OBJECTIVE To identify an evidence-based minimum physical activity threshold to predict improved or sustained high function for adults with lower-extremity joint symptoms. METHODS Prospective multisite data from 1,629 adults, age ≥49 years with symptomatic lower-extremity joint pain/aching/stiffness, participating in the Osteoarthritis Initiative accelerometer monitoring substudy were clinical...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate quality of life (QOL), upper extremity function and the effect of lymphedema treatment in patients with breast cancer related lymphedema. METHOD The basic data comprised medical records (detailing age, sex, dominant side, location of tumor, cancer stage, operation record, cancer treatment and limb circumferences) and questionnaires (lymphedema duration, satisfaction, sel...

OBJECTIVE Maintaining functional status and reducing/eliminating health disparities in late life are key priorities. Older African Americans have been found to have worse lower extremity functioning than Whites, but little is known about potential differences in correlates between African American and White men. The goal of this investigation was to examine measures that could explain this raci...

[Purpose] This study compared the upper extremity recovery of stroke patients with the amount of their upper extremity use in real life as measured by accelerometers. [Subjects] Forty inpatients who had had a stroke were recruited. [Methods] The subjects were divided into two groups by the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Motor Function (FMA) score, a moderately recovered group and a well recovered gro...

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to find gender distinctions in terms of the sociology of the population; to determine work-related factors; to analyze gender differences in daily living, work, sports, and art performances; and to identify gender-related factors that limited performance of daily living and work activities. METHODS A questionnaire was designed that included disabilities of the arm,...

Involvement of the upper extremity in cerebral palsy often results in a typical pattern of spasticity, with elbow flexion, forearm pronation, ulnar deviation and flexion of the wrist, and adduction-flexion posture of the thumb. Although only a relatively small subset of cerebral palsy patients are candidates for surgery, properly selected patients and procedures yield a reasonable improvement. ...

BACKGROUND Cognitive decline and poor physical function are risk factors for disability in old age and may occur more often in subjects with the apolipoprotein E epsilon4 (ApoE-epsilon4) allele. The objective of this study was to investigate the joint effect of ApoE-epsilon4 and structural changes detected on MRI brain scans on cognitive decline and lower-extremity function. METHODS Brain MRI...

BACKGROUND Physical performance measures can predict incident disability, but little research has assessed and compared how these measures predict progressive and rapid-onset (catastrophic) disability. The authors evaluated the ability of upper and lower extremity performance measures to predict progressive and catastrophic disability in activities of daily living (ADL), mobility, and upper ext...