Physical Therapist-Led Initiatives for the Prevention and Improvement of Chronic Pain Among Workers: A Case Study of Hosting Workshops Based on Survey Results in a Corporate Setting.

Industrial physical therapy (IPT) interventions by physical therapists can enhance labor productivity. However, in Japan, there is a scarcity of case studies involving corporate visits, questionnaire-based data, and insights into corporate demands. Addressing this gap is vital for improving presenteeism related to chronic pain and increasing employees' health literacy, thereby advancing corporate health management.

Relationship between respiratory muscle strength and dynamic balance in older persons requiring care or support: Focusing on the maximal single step length test and maximal double step length test as dynamic balance indices.

Background: Falls are a major health problem. The relationship between dynamic balance related to falls and respiratory muscle strength related to sarcopenia and frailty is poorly understood.

Research Question: How do dynamic balance measures, such as maximal single step length test (MSL) and maximal double step length test (MDST), and respiratory muscle strength measures, such as maximal inspiratory (PImax) and maximal expiratory (PEmax), related to the requirement for long-term care or support in older people who live in the community?

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 39 older people (17 men, 22 women) aged ≥ 65 years community-dwelling who were certified as requiring long-term care or support under the Japanese system.

Relationship between walking speed, respiratory muscle strength, and dynamic balance in community-dwelling older people who required long-term care or support and used a daycare center.

Background: Focusing on the relationship between frail older people and gait speed is vital to minimize the need for long-term care or increased support. The relationship between gait speed, respiratory muscle strength, and dynamic balance, is not well understood in older people requiring long-term care or support. Therefore, this study aimed to provide new insights into the relationship between gait speed, respiratory muscle strength, and dynamic balance in community-dwelling older people who required long-term care or support and used a daycare center.

Four minutes of capacitive and resistive electric transfer therapy increased jump performance.

Capacitive and resistive electric transfer (CRET) therapy can improve flexibility and increase muscle activity and may be useful as a warm-up technique. This study examined the effects of short-time CRET on jump performance. Thirty healthy men (age range, 20-40 years) were randomly divided into passive ( = 15) and active ( = 15) warm-up groups.

Effects of capacitive and resistive electric transfer therapy on pain and lumbar muscle stiffness and activity in patients with chronic low back pain.

[Purpose] In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of capacitive and resistive electric transfer therapy in patients with chronic low back pain. [Participants and Methods] The study included 24 patients with chronic low back pain (12 patients each in the intervention and sham groups). Pain intensity, superficial and deep lumbar multifidus stiffness and maximum forward trunk flexion and associated activation level of the iliocostalis (thoracic and lumbar component) and lumbar multifidus muscles were measured.

Effect of electromyographic activity using capacitive and resistive electric transfer on non-specific chronic low back pain: a double-blind randomized clinical trial.

Capacitive and resistive electric transfer (CRET) therapy is used to reduce pain and improve functional disability, and the effect on low back pain remains to be investigated. This study aimed to examine the immediate effect on the onset time of the muscles after irradiating CRET therapy for non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP). Thirty patients with NSCLBP were randomly divided into an intervention group (n = 15) and a sham group (n = 15).

Elucidation of abductor digiti minimi activity in chronic ankle instability.

[Purpose] This study aimed to compare the muscle activity around the foot and ankle joints, notably of the abductor digiti minimi, between affected and unaffected sides of individuals with chronic ankle instability. [Participants and Methods] Twelve adult males with chronic ankle instability in one ankle (age, 27.7 ± 5.

Changes in the awareness and understanding of trunk muscle training in high school athletes.

[Purpose] This study aimed to compare the results of two questionnaires administered in 2013 and 2020, on the level of awareness and understanding of trunk muscle training. [Participants and Methods] In total, 238 soccer club members in high schools responded to our questionnaire regarding trunk muscle training. Two teams were recruited from the top (top 4), middle (top 16), and bottom levels (first-round losers), according to the prefectural tournament's results in 2019.

Is the diaphragm thickness related to gait speed in patients with hemiplegia caused by cerebrovascular accident?

[Purpose] We aimed to determine the relationship between gait speed and diaphragm thickness in community-residing patients with hemiplegia caused by cerebrovascular accidents. [Participants and Methods] We recruited 11 elderly participants (six male and five female, mean age 71.1 ± 13.

Relationship between gait speed and trunk muscles in frail elderly individuals.

[Purpose] The external and internal abdominal muscles may be related to gait speed; however, this has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we aimed to clarify the relationship between gait speed and trunk muscle thickness in elderly individuals. [Participants and Methods] The participants were 12 elderly individuals (4 males and 8 females, mean age 83.

Effect of low back pain on the muscles controlling the sitting posture.

[Purpose] The purpose of the current study was to reveal the association between posture control and muscle activity by measuring the trunk and hip joint muscle activities in the upright and slump sitting positions in both the healthy participants and patients with recurrent lower back pain. [Participants and Methods] We recruited eleven patients of recurrent lower back pain and ten healthy participants. During the maintenance of the two types of posture, upright and slump, we collected the surface electromyography data.

Relationships between Bat Swing Speed and Muscle Thickness and Asymmetry in Collegiate Baseball Players.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between bat swing speed (BSS), muscle thickness, and muscle thickness asymmetry in collegiate baseball players. Twenty-four collegiate baseball players participated in this study. Maximum BSS in hitting a teed ball was measured using a motion capture system.

Association between hand muscle thickness and whole-body skeletal muscle mass in healthy adults: a pilot study.

[Purpose] Handgrip strength is a surrogate indicator for assessing disease-related and age-related skeletal muscle loss. Clinical utility as such a surrogate can be at least partially explained by the close relationship between handgrip strength and whole-body skeletal muscle mass. The handgrip strength is related to hand muscle size.

Applicability of ultrasonography for evaluating trunk muscles size in athletes: a study focused on baseball batters.

[Purpose] Recently, we demonstrated that the thicknesses of trunk muscles measured using ultrasonography were correlated strongly with the cross-sectional areas measured using magnetic resonance imaging in untrained subjects. To further explore the applicability of ultrasonography in the clinical setting, the present study examined the correlation between ultrasonography-measured thicknesses and magnetic resonance imaging-measured cross-sectional areas of trunk muscles in athletes with trained trunk muscles. [Subjects and Methods] The thicknesses and cross-sectional areas at total 10 sites of the bilateral sides of the upper, central, and lower parts of the rectus abdominis, abdominal wall, and multifidus lumborum in 30 male baseball batters were measured.

Applicability of ultrasonography for evaluating trunk muscle size: a pilot study.

[Purpose] Ultrasonography (US) is widely applied to measure the muscle size in the limbs, as it has relatively high portability and is associated with low costs compared with large clinical devices such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, the applicability of US for evaluating trunk muscle size is poorly understood. This study aimed to examine whether US-measured muscle thickness (MT) in the trunk abdominal and back muscles correlated with MT and muscle cross-sectional area (MCSA) measured by MRI.