Biomedical subjects

Jari P Arokoski

Publications and source records attributed to Jari P Arokoski.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Effect of passive stretch on reproducibility of hip range of motion measurements.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the intra- and intertester and intra- and interday reliability of hip passive range of motion (PROM) measurements and the effect of passive stretch on the reproducibility of PROM measurements. DESIGN: Reliability study. SETTING: Rehabilitation clinic at university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty volunteers (12 women, 8 men; age range, 18-45 y). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Two physical therapists made 2 PROM measurements on the first day and repeated them once after 2 days. The PROM in hip flexion, extension, and inner rotation and knee flexion were determined. The measurements of the hip flexion and inner rotation involved either 1 or 8 short-term passive stretches. The reproducibility was expressed as the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the coefficient of variation (CV) (in percent). RESULTS: The passive stretch increased significantly ( P <.05 to P <.001) the PROM of the hip joint. The reproducibility of the PROM measurement did not increase after repetitive passive stretch. The intra- and interday intra- and intertester ICC and CV of the PROM of the hip flexion and hip inner rotation ranged from .655 to .988 and 2.1% to 12.6%, respectively. The intra- and intertester intra- and interday ICC of the PROM of the hip extension ranged from .740 to .961, and the CV ranged from -85.5% to 242.6%. The intra- and intertester intra- and interday ICC of the PROM of the knee flexion ranged from .497 to .913, and the CV ranged from 2.5% to 9.9%. CONCLUSIONS: Repetitive stretching increased significantly the PROM in hip flexion and inner rotation, but the reproducibility of the PROM measurement did not improve. The hip flexion and the hip inner rotation PROM measurements had moderate to very high intra- and interday intra- and intertester reliabilities. The reliability of the PROM in hip extension and knee flexion was poor.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Activation of lumbar paraspinal and abdominal muscles during therapeutic exercises in chronic low back pain patients.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the activities of paraspinal and abdominal muscles during therapeutic exercises for the treatment of patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain (CLBP), and to study the effects of active physical rehabilitation on these activities. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study comparing muscle activities during 18 stabilization exercises, and a prospective follow-up of patients with CLBP during rehabilitation. SETTING: Rehabilitation clinic in university hospital in Finland. PARTICIPANTS: Nine volunteers (5 men, 4 women) aged 27 to 58 years. INTERVENTION: Three months of active outpatient rehabilitation (4 to 6 times in a rehabilitation clinic, supplemented with self-motivated exercise at home) supervised by a physiotherapist. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Surface electromyography was recorded bilaterally from L5 level paraspinal, rectus abdominis, and obliquus externus abdominis muscles. The recorded signal was averaged and normalized to the maximal electromyographic amplitude obtained during the maximal voluntary contraction. The measurements were taken before and after the exercise treatment period. RESULTS: CLBP patients showed variable trunk muscle activity patterns during the different therapeutic exercises, similar to those that we reported earlier in healthy subjects. The maximal trunk isometric extension (pre, 147.3+/-75.9Nm; post, 170.1+/-72.3Nm) and flexion (pre, 72.0+/-37.9Nm; post, 93.5+/-42.5Nm) torques did not show a significant changes during the exercise period. However, trunk rotation-flexion torque (pre, 52.9+/-26.5Nm; post, 82.4+/-65.8Nm) increased significantly (35.8%) after the exercise period (P<.05). The corresponding maximal electromyographic amplitudes of back and abdominal muscles remained unchanged. Disability, as assessed by visual analog scale and Oswestry Disability Index, did not change. CONCLUSIONS: The CLBP patients performed therapeutic exercises with similar abdominal and back extensor muscle activities in the same way as the healthy subjects in our earlier studies. In this study, active physical rehabilitation had no effect on the abdominal and back muscle activities or on pain and functional disability indices.

Abdominal Muscles↗

PubMed2004

Physical function in men with and without hip osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the subjective joint pain and function and the objective physical function of lower extremities in men with hip osteoarthritis (OA), to compare the results with those from age- and sex-matched controls, and to evaluate the reproducibility of the functional tests. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Rehabilitation clinic in a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-seven volunteer men (age range, 47-64 y) with hip OA and 30 randomly selected, healthy age-matched men. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index, passive range of motion (ROM) of the hip joint measured with a standard goniometer, and physical functioning evaluated with a test battery. RESULTS: The function and the composite scores of the WOMAC correlated (P<.05) with the degree of radiographically estimated severity of OA. The hips of the control subjects were 13% to 52% more flexible (P range, <.0001-.001) than those of the OA patients. The more the hip was deteriorated, the lower the ROM of the hip was in abduction and in both internal and external rotations. The reproducibility of marching on-the-spot and walking up and down stairs was good in both groups, but in other functional tests the reproducibility was poorer. The controls were significantly (P range, <.05-.01) better at marching, ascending and descending stairs, performing a 25-m walk, and in flexion-extension and abduction-adduction movements compared with the hip OA patients. Most of the WOMAC items were significantly (P<.05) related to the performance tests. CONCLUSIONS: The WOMAC and the ROM can be considered useful hip OA indicators. Marching on-the-spot and walking up and down stairs are the most reproducible physical functioning tests and can thus be recommended for use for patients with hip OA.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗