OBJECTIVE The aims of this study were (1) to investigate the relationship between clinical tests detecting spinal instability and the perceived pain and disability in nonspecific low back pain and (2) to investigate the relationship between endurance and instability tests. METHODS Four instability tests (aberrant movements, active straight leg raising, prone instability test, and passive lumb...

Case 1-A man aged 46 stated that five months ago he had strained his back at work lifting bags of cement. The pain was felt low on the left side, and later radiated down the left leg. He was unable to work for six weeks. The pain did not resolve completely and had recently become worse again, extending to the left foot. He walked with a forward stoop, favouring the left leg. All back movements,...

BACKGROUND The sit and reach test is the most common flexibility test used in health related fitness test batteries. OBJECTIVE To examine and compare three different sit and reach tests as a measure of hamstring flexibility in 102 female students. METHOD The traditional sit and reach test, the chair sit and reach test, the back saver sit and reach test, and passive straight leg raise were a...

The objectives were 1) to evaluate the hamstring muscle flexibility in children and adolescents; 2) to examine the relative contribution of the spinal curvatures, pelvic tilt and hamstring flexibility on the sit-and-reach (SR) score; and 3) to determine the validity of the sit-and-reach test through both active and passive hip flexion tests. 118 children and adolescents (aged 7-18 years; 60 mal...

[Purpose] Differences in scores on the Functional Movement Screen between patients with chronic lower back pain and healthy control subjects were investigated. [Subjects and Methods] In all, 20 chronic lower back pain patients and 20 healthy control subjects were recruited. Chronic lower back pain patients and healthy controls performed the Functional Movement Screen (deep squat, hurdle step, i...

In heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction, their hemodynamic parameters usually change when they are from recumbent to passive leg raising. The authors designed this study to investigate the relationship between hemodynamic parameters measured by impedance cardiography (ICG) and 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF). We recruite...