Individuals with Parkinson's Disease (PD) are often not referred to Physical Therapy (PT) until there are issues with mobility in later Hoehn and Yahr Stages. There have been no studies outlining the benefits of PT intervention in Stage I only. For persons with PD, deficits in motor function increase over time due to destruction of dopamine-producing cells. LSVT BIG, an exercise program for PD,...

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of a conventional exercise program designed for correcting postural and coordination abnormalities in patients with mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). Using principles of motor learning applied to functional exercise training, exercises were performed while lying, sitting, standing and walking, with the goal of improving intra- and i...

Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder with no definite cure. A study was carried out on 150 patients diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. These included Duchenne muscular dystrophy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, and Becker muscular dystrophy variants. They were administered autologous bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells intrathecally and intramuscularly at the motor points of the antigravi...

BACKGROUND Functional assessment is an important part of the evaluation of elderly patients. Mobility problems detected by functional tests predict the development of more severe disability and injurious events such as falls and hip fractures. Several tests to evaluate mobility have been described, but most of them are difficult to perform by a primary care physicians or take much time in the a...

The primary aim of this investigation was to assess the correlation between the POSNA Musculoskeletal Functional Health Questionnaire (POSNA) and gait analysis in children with cerebral palsy (CP). POSNA and computerized gait analysis were used to evaluate individuals with CP. Correlations were investigated between POSNA scales, gait parameters, and the Gillette Functional Assessment Questionna...

OBJECTIVE To analyse the effects of gait therapy for patients after acute stroke in a randomized controlled trial. METHODS Fifty-six patients with a mean of 8 days post-stroke participated in: (i) gait trainer exercise; (ii) walking training over ground; or (iii) conventional treatment. Patients in the gait trainer exercise and walking groups practiced gait for 15 sessions over 3 weeks and re...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the influence of the use of a rollator walking aid on assessment of gait and mobility. DESIGN Prospective, longitudinal study. SUBJECTS Geriatric patients during inpatient rehabilitation (n=109; mean age 83.1 years). METHODS Assessment at the beginning and prior to discharge from rehabilitation using: gait-analysis (GAITRite®, speed, cadence, stride-time, stride-l...

Physical activity, including running, is important to general health by way of prevention of chronic illnesses and their precursors. To keep runners healthy, it is paramount that one has sound knowledge of the biomechanics of running and assessment of running gait. More so, improving performance in competitive runners is based in sound training and rehabilitation practices that are rooted firml...

aging declines abilities and leads to increased risk of falling and subsequently poorer quality of life. the objective of this study was to identify a proper assessment for risk of falling among institutionalized elderly. in order to accomplish this aim, two functional assessment methods, berg scale and tinetti scale, were used and the validity indices of these methods were calculated. prospect...

OBJECTIVES To identify predictors of functional recovery after an intensive rehabilitation training in patients with gait disturbances and refractory parkinsonism. DESIGN Observational study. SETTING A hospital geriatric rehabilitation department ("Ancelle della Carità" hospital of Cremona). PARTICIPANTS Thirty-eight subjects (mean age+/-standard deviation of 78.9+/-6.5; 66% women) with g...