Relationship of the sacral slope with early gait derangements in robust older women.

Background: Trunk pelvic dissociation is fundamental to the compensatory mechanism for muscle weakness during body bending. We carried out an early investigation of gait changes in a sample of community-dwelling women ≥60 years without gait complaints. The primary objective was to correlate spine and pelvic angles with performance tests and accelerometry parameters.

[Isokinetic assessment of ankles in patients with rheumatoid arthritis].

Introduction: The foot and ankle in rheumatoid arthritis undergo highly destructive synovitis with loss of muscle strength.

Objective: To evaluate the muscle strength of ankles in patients with rheumatoid arthritis based on isokinetic dynamometry parameters.

Material And Methods: Thirty patients with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis involving the ankle(s) and 30 healthy subjects (control group) matched for age, gender, race, body mass index and lower limb dominance were studied.

Energy expenditure during cane-assisted gait in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: To compare the energy expenditure in patients with unilateral knee osteoarthritis while walking with canes of different lengths.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study (single-group) was carried out on thirty patients with unilateral knee osteoarthritis. An adjustable aluminum cane was used, and three different cane lengths were determined for each subject: C1--length from the floor to the greater trochanter; C2--length from the floor to the distal wrist crease; and C3--length obtained by the formula: height x 0.

Use of cryotherapy to enhance mouth opening in patients with cerebral palsy.

This study was conducted to assess the effect of cryotherapy on masseter spasticity on mouth opening, which is required for oral hygiene and dental treatment. The inter-incisal distance was measured before cryotherapy in 24 patients with cerebral palsy who had spasticity of the tetraparesis type. Ice was then applied on the skin surface with sliding movements over the masseter, bilaterally for one minute.