Functional Independence and Difficulty Scale: Instrument development and validity evaluation.

Aims: To validate the Functional Independence and Difficulty Scale, a new instrument that assesses both independence and difficulty in carrying out basic activities of daily living.

Methods: First, we developed an item list for our construct through a literature review. Second, an expert panel evaluated the item list using the modified Delphi method.

Sarcopenia and physical activity in older male cardiac patients.

Background: There is little information on the association of sarcopenia with physical activity in elderly cardiac patients. This study determined differences in physical activity and cutoff values for physical activity according to the presence or absence of sarcopenia in elderly male cardiac patients.

Methods And Results: Sixty-seven consecutive men aged ≥65 years with cardiac disease were enrolled.

Respiratory muscle strength in relation to sarcopenia in elderly cardiac patients.

Background And Aims: Little information exists on the relation between respiratory muscle strength such as maximum inspiratory muscle pressure (MIP) and sarcopenia in elderly cardiac patients. The present study aimed to determine the differences in MIP, and cutoff values for MIP according to sarcopenia in elderly cardiac patients.

Methods: We enrolled 63 consecutive elderly male patients aged ≥65 years with cardiac disease in this cross-sectional study.

Relation between VE/VCO2 slope and maximum phonation time in chronic heart failure patients.

This study aimed to determine the relation between the regression slope relating minute ventilation to carbon dioxide output (VE/VCO2 slope) and maximum phonation time (MPT), and the MPT required to attain a threshold value for VE/VCO2 slope of ≤ 34 in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. This cross-sectional study enrolled 115 CHF patients (mean age, 54.5 years; men, 84.