Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

Individuals With Recurrent Low Back Pain Exhibit Significant Changes In Paraspinal Muscle Strength After Intramuscular Fine Wire Electrode Insertion, Szu-Ping Lee, Vincent Dinglasan, Anthony Duong, Russell Totten, Jo Armour Smith

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

To examine how insertion and presence of intramuscular fine‐wire electromyography electrodes (IFWE) in lumbar multifidus affect paraspinal muscle strength, endurance, and activation in persons with and without recurrent lower back pain (RLBP) during activities that require high levels of muscle contraction.

Design

Case‐control with randomization of conditions.

Setting

Clinical Research Laboratory.

Participants

Forty participants age 18‐40 were recruited (18 female; mean age = 25.5 yr); 20 with a history of RLBP were compared to a matching control group of 20 without RLBP.

Interventions

Each participant was tested under three conditions over three sessions. On Session 1, the baseline condition, …

Effects Of Obesity And Fall Risk On Gait And Posture Of Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Thurmon E. Lockhart, Christopher W. Frames, Rahul Soangra, Abraham Lieberman

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Epidemiological studies link increased fall risk to obesity in older adults, but the mechanism through which obesity increases falls and fall risks is unknown. This study investigates if obesity (Body Mass Index: BMI>30 kg/m2) influenced gait and standing postural characteristics of community dwelling older adults leading to increased risk of falls. One hundred healthy older adults (age 74.0±7.6 years, range of 56-90 years) living independently in a community participated in this study. Participants’ history of falls over the previous two years was recorded, with emphasis on frequency and characteristics of falls. Participants with at least two falls in the …

A Method To Concatenate Multiple Short Time Series For Evaluating Dynamic Behaviour During Walking, Niklas König Ignasiak

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Gait variability is a sensitive metric for assessing functional deficits in individuals with mobility impairments. To correctly represent the temporal evolution of gait kinematics, nonlinear measures require extended and uninterrupted time series. In this study, we present and validate a novel algorithm for concatenating multiple time-series in order to allow the nonlinear analysis of gait data from standard and unrestricted overground walking protocols. The fullbody gait patterns of twenty healthy subjects were captured during five walking trials (at least 5 minutes) on a treadmill under different weight perturbation conditions. The collected time series were cut into multiple shorter time series …

Does Variability Of Footfall Kinematics Correlate With Dynamic Stability Of The Centre Of Mass During Walking?, Niklas König Ignasiak

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

A stable walking pattern is presumably essential to avoid falls. Stability of walking is most accurately determined by the short-term local dynamic stability (maximum Lyapunov exponent) of the body centre of mass. In many studies related to fall risk, however, variability of step width is considered to be indicative of the stability of the centre of mass during walking. However, other footfall parameters, in particular variability of stride time, have also been associated with increased risk for falling. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the association between short-term local dynamic stability of the body centre of mass …

The Pairing Of Trigger Point Dry Needling With Rehabilitation Techniques, Karle Kotze

Senior Honors Theses

Trigger point dry needling is a manual treatment modality used for individuals experiencing tightness, pain, and inhibited range of motion in any region of the body. Dry needling can be described as the insertion of a blunt, microfilament non-medicated needle into the skin for the purpose of targeting specific muscles, which contain tight bands known as trigger points. When the needle is inserted into the trigger point the muscle contracts, holds tight to the needle, and elicits a neural twitch response. This ultimately causes the muscle to relax, allowing for reduction in pain and improvements in range of motion. Although …

Walking Biomechanics And Energetics Of Individuals With A Visual Impairment: A Preliminary Report, Hunter J. Bennett, Kevin A. Valenzuela, Kristina Fleenor, Steven Morrison, Justin A. Haegele

Human Movement Sciences & Special Education Faculty Publications

Purpose.

Although walking gait in sighted populations is well researched, few studies have investigated persons with visual impairments (VIs). Given the lack of physical activity in people with VIs, it is possible that reduced efficiency in walking could adversely affect activity. The purposes of this preliminary study were to (1) examine the biomechanics and energetics utilized during independent and guided walking in subjects with VIs, and (2) compare gait biomechanics between people with VIs and sighted controls.

Methods.

Three-dimensional motion capture and force platforms were used during independent and guided walking at self-selected speeds. Joint angles, moments, external work, and …