Eric L. Dugan

Balance, confidence in balance and quality of life in persons with chronic stroke after body weight supported treadmill training

Stephanie Combs — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:21:41 PST

Whole-body vibration effects on bone mineral density in women with or without resistance training

Brendan Humphries — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:17:25 PST

The effects of whole body vibration on bone mineral density for a person with a spinal cord injury: A case study

Ronald Davis — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:44:15 PST

Bone mineral density (BMD) loss is a medical concern for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Concerns related to osteoporosis have lead researchers to use various interventions to address BMD loss within this population. Whole body vibration (WBV) has been reported to improve BMD for postmenopausal women and suggested for SCI. The purpose of this case study was to identify the effects of WBV on BMD for an individual with SCI. There were three progressive phases (standing only, partial standing, and combined stand with vibration), each lasting 10 weeks. Using the least significant change calculation, significant positive changes in BMD were reported at the trunk (0.46 g/cm2) and spine (.093 g/cm2) for phase 3 only. Increases in leg lean tissue mass and reduction in total body fat were noted in all three phases.

The effect of body weight support treadmill training on paretic leg contribution in hemiparetic walking in persons with chronic stroke

Elicia Ozimek — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:43:09 PDT

Stand to sit movement after bi-compartmental knee replacement

He Wang — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:40:09 PDT

Muscular Fitness

Brendan Humphries — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:34:24 PDT

Gait analysis after bicompartmental knee replacement

He Wang — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:25:12 PDT

BackgroundIt is reported that a majority of the patients with knee osteoarthritis have cartilage degeneration in medial and patellofemoral compartments. A bi-compartmental knee replacement system was designed to treat osteoarthritis at medial and patellofemoral compartments. To date, there is very little information regarding the knee mechanics during gait after bi-compartmental knee replacement. The purpose of the study was to evaluate knee strength and mechanics during level walking after knee replacement.MethodsTen healthy control subjects and eight patients with unilateral bi-compartmental knee replacement participated in the study. Maximal isokinetic concentric knee extension strength was evaluated. 3D kinematic and kinetic analyses were conducted for level walking. Paired Student t-test was used to determine difference between surgical and non-involved limbs. One way MANOVA was used to determine difference between surgical and control groups.FindingsThe surgical knee exhibited less peak torque and initial abduction moment than both the non-involved and control limbs (P < 0.05). The non-involved limb had less knee extension at stance and greater knee extensor moment during push-off than both the surgical and control limbs (P < 0.05). No differences were found for other typical knee mechanics among the surgical, non-involved, and control limbs during walking (P > 0.05).InterpretationsPatients with bi-compartmental knee replacement exhibited good frontal plane knee mechanics and were able to produce the same level of knee extensor moment as healthy control limbs during walking. While showing some compensatory patterns during walking, patients with bi-compartmental knee replacement largely exhibited normal gait patterns and knee mechanics.

Comparing the Effects of Various Whole‐Body Vibration Accelerations on Counter‐Movement Jump Performance

David M. Bazett-Jones — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:55:02 PDT

While it seems that whole body vibration (WBV) might be an effective modality to enhance physical performance, the proper prescription of WBV for performance enhancement remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare the immediate effect of various WBV accelerations on counter movement jump (CMJ) height, the duration of any effect, and differences between men and women. Forty-four participants (33 men, 11 women) participated in no less than four CMJ familiarization sessions and completed all vibration sessions. Participants performed a pre-test (three maximal CMJs), followed randomly by one of five WBV accelerations; 1g (no-WBV control), 2.16g, 2.80g, 4.87g, and 5.83g. Participants performed three maximal CMJs immediately, five, and 10 minutes following each 45 sec WBV session. The mean of the three performances was used and calculated as a percentage of the pre-vibration mean value. A Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA; acceleration x time x gender) model was used to analyze the data. The two-way interactions of acceleration-gender (p = 0.033) and time-gender (p = 0.050) were significant. Women performed significantly better following the 2.80g (p = 0.0064) and 5.83g (p = 0. 0125) WBV sessions compared to the 1g (control) session. Men, however, did not experience performance enhancing effects following any of the vibration sessions. While significant differences did not occur between time in either gender, the effects of the 45 sec WBV session in women were transient, lasting approximately five minutes. During the prescription of WBV, gender should be considered given that the results of this study seem to indicate that men and women respond differently to WBV. The results of this study suggest that WBV might be a useful modality as applied during the pre-competition warm-up.