Earticle

We adopted a within-subjects quasi-experimental approach to assess the impact of kinesio taping (KT) on joint range of motion (ROM), static balance, and dynamic balance. The research subjects were 15 patients who had, within the previous 3 weeks, undergone total knee replace-ment (TKR) by an orthopedic surgeon in 2022. We measured the ROM, static balance, and dynamic balance of the knee joint before and after applying KT. We then compared the pre- and post-tape measurements to assess the effects of KT on joint function and balance. The ROM of the knee joint was measured using a goniometer in the supine position before the KT application. The static and dynamic balance were as-sessed using a balance assessment device by measuring the sway area and length of the center of gravity during the measurement period. The effects of KT on the ROM and static and dynamic balance of the knee joint were investigated. The differences in joint ROM and static and dynamic balance between pre- and post-KT applications were an-alyzed using a paired-sample t-test. This study found that the ROM of the knee joint was significantly increased after applying KT. For static and dynamic balance, both the sway area and length of the center of gravity decreased after applying KT, indicating a significant improve-ment in static and dynamic balance. KT, when combined with standard physiotherapy, can be a useful therapeutic approach for TKR patients, effectively enhancing joint ROM and balance function.

The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of knee positions on car-diac compression variables in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) us-ing the manikin. Adult with career of CPR instructor (n=9; mean age, 27.11±6.60 years; mean heights, 177.39±4.40 cm; mean weights, 69.45±14.85 kg) participated in the experiment, and each participant performed cardiac compression from two different knee positions. Car-diac compression was 30 times per minute for each position with order of position randomized. The results obtained from variables of cardiac compression force were composed of compression velocity, elapsed time, decay rate, and loading rate in maximum and minimum medial-lat-eral, anterior-posterior (AP), vertical direction respectively. The above variables in 20.3 cm of knee position showed effective result than that of 50 cm of knee position, while maximum AP compression force in-creased. Given the often predictable setting of sports and exercise re-habilitation related with cardiac arrest, CPR relative to change of knee position were significantly associated with more efficient cardiac com-pression variables. These data have significant implications for health services program in fields of sports and exercise rehabilitation.

Single mothers are vulnerable to mental health such as depression, but emotional support is insufficient. Yoga is known to be effective in reduc-ing negative emotions and promoting resilience. This study was con-ducted in order to verify the effectiveness of yoga training programs in reducing depression and improving the resilience of single mothers. Participants in the study included 20 single mothers who belonged to the Single Mothers Association, who were randomly assigned to train-ing (n=10) and nontraining (n=10) groups. The yoga training program for single mothers consisted of Asana yoga, meditation, and mind ex-pression through expert meetings; a total of eight sessions were con-ducted once a week for 120 min. Testing for depression and resilience was performed before and after the program in order to verify the ef-fectiveness of the program. According to the results of the study, de-pression in single mothers who participated in the yoga training pro-gram was significantly decreased, and resilience was significantly in-creased. Therefore, the effectiveness of the yoga training program in lowering the depression of single mothers and improving resilience was confirmed. In the future conduct of many studies will be required in order to help the mental health of single mothers.

Scapular stabilization approaches have been a mainstay of therapeutic training programs in the recent past for patients with subacromial impingement syndrome, whereas its contributions solely in the clinical outcome of reducing shoulder pain and disability are largely unclear. This systematic review aims to evaluate and summarize the best evidence regarding the role of scapular stabilization interventions in alleviating shoulder dysfunction among subjects with subacromial impingement syndrome. Six reviewers involved in this systematic review. Literature was retrieved systematically through searching 5 electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane, and Google Scholar). Articles published from the year 2010 up to and including 2019 were included. The literature search included clinical trials those intervened subjects with scapular exercises or scapular stabilization exercises or scapular rehabilitation, as an intervention for subacromial impingement syndrome. Seven studies, totaling 228 participants were included in this systematic review. Articles included in this review were graded according to Lloyd-Smith hierarchy of evidence scale and critically appraised with a tool developed by National, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (United States), named as quality assessment of controlled intervention studies tool. There was a significant effect on the scapular stabilization exercise program on improving pain and disability among subjects with subacromial impingement syndrome. This systematic review provides sufficient evidence to suggest that scapular stabilization exercises offers effectiveness in reducing pain and disability among subjects with subacromial impingement syndrome. However, more trials with larger sample are needed to provide a more definitive evidence on the clinical outcomes of scapular stabilization exercises among patients with impingement.

This study systematically reviews the effects of muscle strength exer-cises on muscle mass and strength in stroke patients by analyzing ran-domized controlled trials. Ten studies, involving a total of 378 stroke pa-tients, were included in the meta-analysis. The standardized mean dif-ference (SMD) and confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random effects model. The results indicated that strength exercises had a medium effect on increasing muscle strength in stroke patients (SMD, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.47–0.72; I2=51%; P<0.05). Specifically, strength ex-ercises were found to be particularly effective in chronic stroke pa-tients, showing a medium effect on muscle strength (SMD, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.55–0.81; I2=45%; P<0.05). The study also compared the effects based on repetition maximum (RM) settings, revealing that strength increased significantly regardless of whether RM was used, with studies showing medium effects (with RM: SMD, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.4–0.64; I2=0%; P<0.05; without RM: SMD, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.4–0.91; I2=72%; P<0.05). The study concludes that strength exercises are beneficial for improving muscle strength in chronic stroke patients, but the use of RM to set exercise in-tensity is not strictly necessary.

Anxiety and depression have been found to be increasing among peo-ple with leprosy and it may lead to decreased social participation. The progressive muscle relaxation technique (PMRT) is widely used today in choice of treatment for reducing the anxiety and depression. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of PMRT in reducing anxiety and depression among the hospitalized leprosy affected person in a tertiary care centre. This study is a case series of 50 leprosy affected people aged between 18–60 years who were admitted for leprosy com-plications in tertiary leprosy referral hospital. The Anxiety-Depression scale was developed and validated by the investigators and adminis-tered before intervention of PMRT and after 2 weeks. The follow-up as-sessment was done at 6 weeks after the initial intervention. The finding shows that a statistically significant difference was observed on anxiety domain before and after application of PMRT. The anxiety means score showed steady decline from 6.76 at pretest to 3.0 (t=25.068, P≤0.001) at post test and 1.12 (t=22.679, P≤0.001) at follow-up. In depression do-main, a statistically significant difference was seen in before and after application of PMRT. The depression means score showed steady de-cline from 6.92 at pre test to 3.28 (t=16.082, P≤0.001) at post test and to 1.16 (t=18.918, P≤0.001) at follow-up. This study proved that the PMRT as a valid treatment option for hospitalized person with leprosy in mini-mizing the anxiety and depression related symptoms and to benefit the psychosocial wellbeing of leprosy affected patients.

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in participation motivation and competition anxiety between Korean and non-Korean wheelchair tennis players and to identify relations between participa-tion motivation and competition anxiety in each group. Sixty-six wheel-chair tennis players who participated in the 2013 Korea Open Wheel-chair Tennis Tournament in Seoul completed the Participation Motiva-tion Survey and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory II. Data were analyzed by a frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson’s cor-relation analysis, and independent samples t-test to identify partici-pants’ demographic characteristics, differences in participation motiva-tion, competition anxiety between Korean and non-Korean players, and correlations between participation motivation and competition anxiety in each group. Korean players reported significantly higher motivation in purification compared to non-Korean players, whereas non-Korean players reported significantly higher motivation in enjoyment. In addition, non-Korean players demonstrated higher cognitive anxiety and self-con-fidence compared to Korean players. Moreover, the physical anxiety of Korean players was negatively correlated with learning, health-fitness, and enjoyment motivation. On the other hand, only self-confidence was significantly related to learning motivation and enjoyment motivation in non-Korean players. Thus, the results presented herein provide evi-dence for the development of specialized counseling programs that consider the psychological characteristics of Korean wheelchair tennis players.

This study aimed to assess and compare changes in body composition, standing balance, cardiovascular parameters, and salivary biomarkers, particularly salivary antioxidant status, after brisk walking training with or without music in older women. Twenty-four subjects were randomly assigned to brisk walking groups: with music (BWM) (n= 12) or without music (BW) (n= 12). Eighteen subjects completed the exercise training (9 in each group), and their data were used for analysis. The research protocols were classified into three phases: pretraining phase, training phase, and posttraining phase, while the data collection was divided into four sessions: resting condition, during treadmill exercise testing, immediately posttreadmill exercise testing, and 5-min posttreadmill exercise testing defined as after the cool-down session. The results showed that 8 weeks of home-based brisk walking with or without music did not improve standing balance, blood pressure, salivary biomarkers including total protein concentration, and antioxidant status but maintained or prevented the decline of these parameters. Only the BWM group reduced fat mass relative to increasing fat-free mass (P< 0.05) and improved recovery heart rate (P< 0.05) by modifying cardiac autonomic control in posttreadmill exercise testing. Therefore, brisk walking with preferred music can be a tool to delay the progression of cardiovascular dysfunction in older women. A longer duration of the exercise program and larger groups of participants are needed for further investigation of brisk walking with or without music on physiological and biochemical changes.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare and devastating dis-ease which is characterized by worsening dyspnea and exercise toler-ance. These patients are often found to have concomitant, depression, anxiety and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The interre-lationship of dyspnea, depression and HRQOL in these patients is not well studied. Retrospective analysis was performed on 46 PAH patients (mean age 51.73). Patients completed Medical Outcomes Study Short - Form 36 V2 (SF-36) to measure HRQOL, Modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) Dyspnea Scale and Zung Depression Scale (ZDS). Physical Health Composite Scores (PCS) and Mental Health Composite Scores (MCS) were derived from SF-36. Spearman’s correlation was computed to determine degree of correlation between pairs of scales. 46 patients (12 males, 34 females; median age 51.4 yr) with confirmed PAH were considered for the study of which 36 patients (9 males, 27 fe-males, median age 50.1 yr), were eligible for further analysis. MMRC Dyspnea Scale Score was 1.0 (Q1 to Q3:1.0 to 2.0). Median MCS was 52.1 (Q1 to Q3:41.7 to 57.1) and PCS was 37.9 (Q1 to Q3: 30.7 to 49.6). There was a significant negative correlation between dyspnea and PCS (r =-0.660, P<0.0001) and MCS (r =-0.342, P<0.0411). The ZDS was avail-able for 17 of these patients; their median score was 42.0 (Q1 to Q3: 33.0 to 46.0). There was a significant correlation between the ZDS and PCS (r =-0.578, P<0.0150,) MCS (r =-0.752, P<0.0005). Patients with PAH suffer from diminished HRQOL correlating with their dyspnea and underlying depression.

Adolescence is a critical period during which physical activity (PA) may influence cognitive processes and academic performance (AP). Although PA has been linked to favorable academic outcomes, evidence remains mixed with respect to activity intensity, frequency, and developmental stage. This systematic review narratively synthesized recent empirical studies (2024–2025) examining the relationship between PA and AP in healthy adolescents, with attention to activity characteristics, develop-mental moderators, and cognitive and psychosocial mediators. Search-es in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar identified 9 original research from 825 articles. Overall, moderate-to-vigorous PA and vigor-ous PA were generally associated with better AP, however, effect sizes were modest and associations were not uniform. Several studies indi-cated curvilinear relationships, whereby moderate PA was associated with optimal AP, while higher frequency or intensity was linked to weak-er outcomes or inconsistent associations. Positive relationships were more consistently observed in middle school than high school students. Evidence from selected studies suggested that PA may influence AP in-directly through attention, inhibitory control, self-concept, and physical and mental health. These findings support promoting regular, moderate- intensity PA within adolescents’ daily routines, particularly in school-based programs, while emphasizing balanced approaches that account for developmental stage and mediating mechanisms.