BACKGROUND Gait analysis is the study of human locomotion. In massage therapy, this observation is part of an assessment process that informs treatment planning. Massage therapy students must apply the theory of gait assessment to simulated patients. At Humber College, the gait assessment module traditionally consists of a textbook reading and a three-hour, in-class session in which students pe...

OBJECTIVES To compare gait and functional performance parameters in elderly subjects who had or had not total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS Our sample comprised 23 elderly subjects (72±6.5 years of age) with a mean of 2.6±1.3 years following THA, named the arthroplasty group (AG) and 23 asymptomatic elderly subjects (70.1±5.9 years of age), named the control group (CG). Case and control sub...

Objectives: To compare gait and functional performance parameters in elderly subjects who had or had not total hip arthroplasty (THA). Methods: Our sample comprised 23 elderly subjects (72±6.5 years of age) with a mean of 2.6±1.3 years following THA, named the arthroplasty group (AG) and 23 asymptomatic elderly subjects (70.1±5.9 years of age), named the control group (CG). Case and control sub...

BACKGROUND Cellular mobile telephone technology shows much promise for delivering and evaluating healthcare interventions in cost-effective manners with minimal barriers to access. There is little data demonstrating that these devices can accurately measure clinically important aspects of individual functional status in naturalistic environments outside of the laboratory. OBJECTIVE The object...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate motor behavior in children after traumatic brain injury (TBI) with quantitative instrumented measures of gait and of functional hand movements (reaching, grasping) and with clinical assessments. DESIGN Case-control study. SETTING Tertiary pediatric trauma rehabilitation center in Germany. PARTICIPANTS Twenty children (age range, 6-13 y) with moderate or severe TBI we...

Persons undergoing physical therapy home services often have difficulty with mobility and gait. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between gait and a rating of cognitive functioning in persons undergoing home-care physical therapy services. Patients over the age of 65 (n = 11,601) seen by a home-care agency between 2007 and 2008 were included in the retr...

BACKGROUND The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is an assessment tool with good prognostic value in COPD. It includes the following: standing balance, 4 m gait speed test (4MGS), and the timed five-repetition sit-to-stand test (5STS). The specific differences in determinants between these three tasks have not been adequately characterized in COPD patients. We aimed to identify health-r...

BACKGROUND The ability to objectively analyze gait in a clinical environment is challenging due to time, space and cost constraints. This study investigated the validity of a portable gait assessment tool in objectively assessing the temporal gait parameters in subjects with spinal cord injury. The portable gait assessment tool consisted of a pair of insoles instrumented with force sensing resi...

Functional hallux limitus is an underrecognized entity that generally does not produce symptoms but can result in a variety of compensatory mechanisms that can produce symptoms. Clinically, hallux limitus can be determined by assessing the range of motion available at the first metatarsophalangeal joint while the first ray is prevented from plantarflexing. The aim of this study was to determine...

OBJECTIVE It is not known which laboratory indices of muscle mass, strength or quality can distinguish functional performance in healthy middle aged women. The aim of this study was to (a) examine the association between upper leg lean tissue mass, knee extensor strength, muscle quality (strength per unit lean tissue mass) and functional performance and (b) to determine the utility of tertiles ...