Pregnant women may exercise both abdominal and pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy without increasing the diastasis recti abdominis: a randomised trial.

Question: What is the effect of a 12-week abdominal and pelvic floor muscle exercise program during pregnancy on the inter-recti distance (IRD) in women with diastasis recti abdominis immediately after the 12-week intervention period and at follow-up 6 weeks postpartum?

Design: An exploratory, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding and intention-to-treat analysis.

Participants: Ninety-six pregnant women aged ≥ 18 years, either primigravida or multigravida, in gestation week 24 with an IRD of ≥ 28 mm measured at rest and/or a protrusion on initial assessment.

Intervention: The experimental group participated in a 12-week abdominal and pelvic floor muscle exercise program during pregnancy.

Effect of exercise on the inter-rectus distance in pregnant women with diastasis recti abdominis: an experimental longitudinal study.

Objective: To investigate the effect of acute contraction of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) and abdominal exercises on the inter-rectus distance (IRD) compared to resting values, and differences between gestation weeks 27 and 37, in pregnant women with diastasis recti abdominis (DRA).

Design: Experimental longitudinal design.

Setting: Physiotherapy clinic, primary health care.

Community living after in-hospital specialized rehabilitation in patients with severe disability after stroke: a long-term follow-up after a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Physical functioning after discharge from specialized rehabilitation is a concern. The purpose of this study was to investigate functioning and health after a long period of community living in participants with severe disability after stroke.

Materials And Methods: An observational, longitudinal follow-up design was used to investigate 60 participants from a randomized controlled trial.

Effect of a specific exercise programme during pregnancy on diastasis recti abdominis: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) is a common condition in pregnant and postpartum women.Evidence for the treatment of DRA is both sparse and weak. As thiscondition occurs during the last two trimesters of pregnancy and there is a paucity of high-quality studies on a pregnant population, we will conduct a randomised trial on the effect ofa specific exercise programme during pregnancy on DRA.

Pain pressure threshold algometry in knee osteoarthritis: intra- and inter-rater reliability.

Introduction: Synovitis and effusion can cause pain sensitization in persons with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Pain Pressure Threshold (PPT) algometry is a means to quantify somatosensory abnormalities, including inflammatory-mediated pressure hyperalgesia. We investigated the reliability of PPT algometry with three raters.

The Female Menstrual Cycles Effect on Strength and Power Parameters in High-Level Female Team Athletes.

Purpose: The female menstrual cycle (MC) is characterized by hormonal fluctuations throughout its different phases. However, research regarding its effect on athletic performance in high level athletes is sparse. The aim of this study was to (i) investigate the female MCs effect on strength and power performance in highly trained female team athletes throughout the MC and (ii) examine whether eumenorrheic participants with natural hormonal fluctuations displayed enhanced performance in the follicular phase (FP) versus the luteal phase (LP), compared to controls using hormonal contraceptives.

The Role of Psychological Readiness in Return to Sport Assessment After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Background: Knowledge about the predictive value of return to sport (RTS) test batteries applied after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is limited. Adding assessment of psychological readiness has been recommended, but knowledge of how this affects the predictive ability of test batteries is lacking.

Purpose: To examine the predictive ability of a RTS test battery on return to preinjury level of sport and reinjury when evaluation of psychological readiness was incorporated.

Spatiotemporal gait parameters for older adults - An interactive model adjusting reference data for gender, age, and body height.

Introduction: Since it is well documented that spatiotemporal gait parameters are affected by body size, it is of limited clinical value to compare individual scores against reference values without taking body size into consideration. For older adults, reference values have been presented in recent reports, but unfortunately the effect of body size on gait characteristics was not taken into account and neither prediction intervals nor percentile ranks were included. It is the aim of this study to present and assess a model where individual spatiotemporal gait parameter values for older adults can be compared to reference values adjusted for gender, age, and body height.

Within-day test-retest reliability of an accelerometer-based method for registration of step time symmetry during stair descent after ACL reconstruction and in healthy subjects.

: Symmetry during stair descent can potentially be used as an early functional measure after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). We have developed a novel application of a single accelerometer-based inertial motion unit (IMU) to identify foot strikes and calculate step times in an ordinary stairway.: To examine within-day test-retest reliability and measurement error of step time and step time symmetry measured with a body-fixed IMU during stair descent in subjects early after ACLR and in healthy subjects.

Job-related self-efficacy in musculoskeletal disorders - a questionnaire.

Background: The Return-To-Work Self-Efficacy Scale questionnaire maps self-efficacy upon return to work following acute lower back pain. We wished to translate and validate the questionnaire, as well as to assess the concordance between the translated form and two other forms.

Material And Method: The questionnaire was translated into Norwegian according to recommended guidelines.

Two-year changes in gait variability in community-living older adults.

Background: Increases in stride-to-stride fluctuations (gait variability) are common among older adults, but little is known about the natural progression of gait variability with increasing age.

Research Question: Does gait variability change with increasing age in a group of community-living older adults?

Methods: The participants were community-living volunteers between 70-81 years, who were tested with a two-year interval between tests. They walked 6.

The effects of integrated single- and dual-task training on automaticity and attention allocation in Parkinson's disease: A secondary analysis from a randomized trial.

Objective: People with Parkinson's disease (PwPD) demonstrate impaired automaticity of motor and cognitive tasks, with unclear prioritization strategies when exposed to dual-task situations. However, no randomized trials have investigated the effects of training on automaticity and prioritization strategies in this population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of training on the automaticity of gait and cognitive processing in PwPD and the allocation of attention between gait and a cognitive task.

The reliability of gait variability measures for individuals with Parkinson's disease and healthy older adults - The effect of gait speed.

Background: Step-to-step variability is a marker of reduced motor control and a frequently studied outcome measure in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) as compared to healthy older adults (HOA). To challenge motor control of gait, walking should be tested at different gait speeds. Good reliability is essential, and gait variability estimates show good reproducibility when sampled at normal gait speed.

The walk ratio: Investigation of invariance across walking conditions and gender in community-dwelling older people.

Background: The step length-cadence ratio, also called the walk ratio (WR; cm/steps/min) is a measure of cautious gait, poor balance control or impaired gait, but has not been investigated for both genders in a general population of older adults across different speeds and conditions.

Method: The participants were community-dwelling volunteers between 70 and 81 years. They walked 6.

Predicting outcome in frozen shoulder (shoulder capsulitis) in presence of comorbidity as measured with subjective health complaints and neuroticism.

Background: There is a substantive lack of knowledge about comorbidity in patients with frozen shoulder. The aim of this study was to investigate whether subjective health complaints and Neuroticism would predict treatment outcome in patients diagnosed with frozen shoulder as measured by the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) and change in SPADI.

Methods: A total of 105 patients with frozen shoulder were recruited for a randomised controlled trial, where 69 were in the intervention group and received intraarticular corticosteroid injections and 36 patients served as control group.

A longitudinal study investigating how stroke severity, disability, and physical function the first week post-stroke are associated with walking speed six months post-stroke.

Objectives: To investigate to which degree stroke severity, disability, and physical function the first week post-stroke are associated with preferred walking speed (PWS) at 6 months.

Design: Longitudinal observational study.

Method: Participants were recruited from a stroke unit and tested within the first week (baseline) and at 6 months post-stroke.

The validity of the Gait Variability Index for individuals with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease.

Increased step-to-step variability is a feature of gait in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and is associated with increased disease severity and reductions in balance and mobility. The Gait Variability Index (GVI) quantifies gait variability in spatiotemporal variables where a score ≥100 indicates a similar level of gait variability as the control group, and lower scores denote increased gait variability. The study aim was to explore mean GVI score and investigate construct validity of the index for individuals with mild to moderate PD.

Responsiveness of the Berg Balance Scale in patients early after stroke.

The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) has previously shown good measurement properties. However, its ability to detect important change in patients early after stroke is still unknown. The purpose of the present study was to determine the minimal important change (MIC) and its relation to the minimal detectable change (MDC) for BBS in patients early after stroke.

Adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder, treatment with corticosteroid, corticosteroid with distension or treatment-as-usual; a randomised controlled trial in primary care.

Background: Optimal management for adhesive shoulder capsulitis (frozen shoulder) is currently unclear. We intended to explore whether treatment by intra-articular injections with corticosteroid and distension is more effective than treating with corticosteroids alone or treatment-as-usual in a primary care setting in Norway.

Methods: In this prospective randomised intention to treat parallel study, 106 patients were block randomised to three groups; 36 (analysed 35) receiving steroid injection and Lidocaine (IS), 34 receiving steroid and additional saline as distension (ISD) and 36 had treatment-as-usual (TAU).

The application of multilevel modelling to account for the influence of walking speed in gait analysis.

Differences in gait performance can be explained by variations in walking speed, which is a major analytical problem. Some investigators have standardised speed during testing, but this can result in an unnatural control of gait characteristics. Other investigators have developed test procedures where participants walking at their self-selected slow, preferred and fast speeds, with computation of gait characteristics at a standardised speed.

Identification of gait domains and key gait variables following hip fracture.

Background: Restoration of gait is an important goal of rehabilitation after hip fracture. Numerous spatial and temporal gait variables have been reported in the literature, but beyond gait speed, there is little agreement on which gait variables should be reported and which are redundant in describing gait recovery following hip fracture. The aims of this study were to identify distinct domains of gait and key variables representing these domains, and to explore how known predictors of poor outcome after hip fracture were associated with these key variables.

Peak oxygen uptake and breathing pattern in COPD patients--a four-year longitudinal study.

Background: Activities of daily living in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are limited by exertional dyspnea and reduced exercise capacity. The aims of the study were to examine longitudinal changes in peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak), peak minute ventilation (V̇Epeak) and breathing pattern over four years in a group of COPD patients, and to examine potential explanatory variables of change.

Methods: This longitudinal study included 63 COPD patients, aged 44-75 years, with a mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) at baseline of 51 % of predicted (SD = 14).

Airway obstruction, dynamic hyperinflation, and breathing pattern during incremental exercise in COPD patients.

Ventilatory capacity is reduced in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Tidal volume (V T) is lower and breathing frequency higher at a given ventilation (V E) compared to healthy subjects. We examined whether airflow limitation and dynamic hyperinflation in COPD patients were related to breathing pattern.

Temporal and spatial gait parameters in patients dependent on walking assistance after stroke: reliability and agreement between simple and advanced methods of assessment.

The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of temporal and spatial gait parameters in patients dependent on walking assistance after severe stroke, and to examine agreement between simple and advanced methods. Twenty-one patients, admitted for in-patient multidisciplinary rehabilitation, were assessed repeatedly for walking function, both in a test corridor and a gait laboratory (3D camera system) before and after 11 weeks of rehabilitation. The test-retest reliability was examined using intraclass correlation (ICC1.

Physical activity and longitudinal change in 6-min walk distance in COPD patients.

Background: The 6-min walk distance (6MWD) is widely used to evaluate functional capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Aim: To examine predictors for longitudinal change in 6MWD including self-reported physical activity, smoking habits, body composition, exacerbations, comorbidity and lung function.

Methods: The cohort included 389 patients aged 44-75 years, with clinically stable COPD in GOLD stages II-IV.