Effects of Home-Based Boxing Training on Trunk Performance, Balance, and Enjoyment of Patients With Chronic Stroke

Objective@#To investigate the effect of 6 weeks of home-based boxing training on trunk performance, balance, fear of falling, and level of therapy enjoyment in individuals with chronic stroke. @*Methods@#Eighteen participants with chronic stroke were randomly divided into boxing and control groups (9 patients per group). The boxing group received home-based boxing training for 25 minutes plus balance and trunk exercise training for 15 minutes, while the control group received only home-based balance and trunk exercise training for 40 minutes, three days a week for 6 weeks. The Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS), Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest), Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale, and Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) were assessed at baseline, and at 2, 4, and 6 weeks post-training. The Wilcoxon signed rank test and Mann–Whitney U-test were used to determine differences between pre- and post-training within and between groups. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. @*Results@#The TIS scores significantly increased from 13 to 17 points in the boxing group (p<0.05) compared to an increase from 15 to 17 points in the control group (p<0.05). The Mini-BESTest scores significantly increased from 14 to 22 points in the boxing group (p<0.05) compared to an increase from 17 to 20 points in the control group (p<0.05). There were no differences in the TIS, Mini-BESTest, ABC, and PACES scores between the two groups. @*Conclusion@#Home-based boxing training with balance and trunk exercise training had a similar training effect compared to home-based balance and trunk exercise training.

The application of a physical therapy service with client-centered approach to community physical therapy

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-week physical therapy service with client centered approach on changes in pain level andsatisfaction of the service in 44 persons with backand/or shoulder pain (mean age 64.3±7.7 years) who lived in a community. Self-management to relieve pain was cooperatively designed between the participants and the investigator through a group meeting using the concept of client-centeredapproach. The results showed that the physicaltherapy service with client-centered approach coulddecrease pain level of the participants (p=0.005,paired t-test). The participants also expressedmoderate to high satisfaction of the service. Futurestudies with long-term and randomized controlledtrial design should consider ways to obtain a greater benefit of such physical service scheme.

A Survey of Facilities for Disabled People in Khon Kaen’s Urban Area

Disabled persons always have less opportunity in social life, especially, lack of facilities for daily livings. A survey study was conducted with the aim to evaluate number and appearance state of facilities for disabled persons on 270 places, including government sectors, state enterprises and private sectors, in Khon Kaen’s urban area, Khon Kaen province. The results showed that no places surveyed in this study provided escalators, toilets, car parks, signboards, information counters, public telephones and letter boxes which met a national standard for disabled persons. In addition, although some places provided facilities for disabled persons, most of them did not meet the standard. It was concluded that standard facilities for disabled persons in Khon Kaen’s urban area were not enough for the requirement of them. Thus, people who are responsible in social welfare of this issue should have a positive attitude towards disabled persons and work together for the provision of standard facilities in order to promote a good quality of life for disabled persons.

Assessment of risk of falling in community-dwelling elderly by using the

Falls are a cause of health problem and lead to disability or death in the elderly. Prevention of falls, especially in the high risk group, is thus important with the determination of overall risk factors. The Thai Fall Risk Assessment Tool (Thai FRAT) is a test for evaluating the risk of falls by considering both intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors. Meanwhile the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) emphasizes only the intrinsic factors. This study aimed to examine the agreement of the Thai FRAT and the BBS on identifying the risk of falls in 47 community-dwelling elderly (18 men and 29 women, mean age 76.3 ± 4.2 years) of Samliam Community, Khon Kaen Province. The agreement of the Thai FRAT and the BBS was analyzed by Kappa statistic. The result showed that the agreement of the Thai FRAT and the BBS on identifying the elderly at risk for falling was fair (K = 0.33, P = 0.009). This finding may indicate that physical therapists should apply the Thai FRAT and the BBS for assessing risk of falls of the elderly in community to obtain both intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors.

Physical therapy student's attitude on home health care: a case study from Physical Therpay Department, Khon Kaen University

Home health care is an essential role of physical therapists. The appropriate viewpoint on home health care should be encouraged to students who will be our future physical therapists. Based on the concepts of health problem management with holistic approach and humanized health care, a 7-week learning activity about home health care on neurological patients was arranged for the fourth year physical therapy students, Khon Kaen University. The aim of this study was to evaluate the student’s attitude on this learning activity. Fifteen students were divided into 4 groups to be responsible for 4 neurological patients for 7 weeks. The student’s attitude on the learning activity was evaluated at the end of the activity by means of 2 questionnaires. The results revealed that the 7-week learning activity was greatly beneficial. It also provided happiness, ranked “much” to “the most”, to the students. Therefore, this learning activity should be continually conducted and assessed.

Effects of a physical therapy program based on clint-centered approach on functional balance in the elderly

Falls are an important cause of death for adults aged 65 years and above.  Most preventive strategy studies of falls have involved exercises to promote strength and balance. However, these exercise programs were designed by therapists without the elderly’s participation in designing the programs. The objective of this research was to study effects of physical therapy program with client-centered approach on functional balance (Berg Balance Scale and Timed Up and Go Test) in the elderly. A 12-week study was conducted in 9 elders with fall risks (2 men and 7 women, mean age 77.4 ± 5.8 years) of Samliam 1 community, Khon Kaen Province. During the first 4 weeks, specific problems relating to functional balance of each subject were assessed and discussed between the subject and the investigator, after which a physical therapy program with client-centered approach to improve functional balance was cooperatively designed and individually tailored to each elder. The subject was then instructed to perform the program for 8 weeks. The subject’s functional balance was assessed at baseline and every 4 weeks until the end of the study, and was analyzed using paired t-test. It was found that the physical therapy program with client-centered approach significantly improved the Berg Balance Scale (P \< 0.05). However, it was observed that changes in the functional balance scores were frequently influenced by pain at any body part of the subjects but the present study program did not pay much attention on the issue of pain. Therefore, it is suggested that to improve older people’ balance, therapists should widen their approaches to cover other factors relating to balance as much as possible.

Health-promoting behaviors of physical therapy students in Khon Kaen University

Health promotion is the responsibility of each person to achieve good health. Health-promoting behaviorsshould be practiced regularly by every one, especially physical therapists who are health promotion providers.During the educational years of physical therapy training, greater emphasis should be placed on the important of anappropriate health-promoting behavior habit to the students. This study aimed to evaluate health-promoting behaviorsof physical therapy students in Khon Kaen University and compare the behaviors among students in each educationalyear. Participants were 144 undergraduate physical therapy students (mean age 20.2\± 1.3 years) who werestudying at the Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Khon Kaen University in 2008. Their health-promotingbehaviors were assessed by a self-completed questionnaire namely the Thai health promoting lifestyle profileII (HPLP-II). The questionnaire contains 52 items that evaluate behaviors regarding health responsibility, physicalactivity, nutritional habits, spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, and stress management. The results revealed thatthe participantsํ overall health-promoting behaviors were at a fair level. The 6 subscales of the behaviors rangedfrom good to very poor, with the highest and lowest levels in the interpersonal relations and physical activity,respectively. Significant differences in health-promoting behaviors among students in the 4 educational years werefound in the health responsibility and physical activity (P \< 0.05). These findings could be used as database for thecurriculum planners and faculty administrators to set up a strategy of health promotion, structure healthier environments,and develop health education programs for encouraging physical therapy students to adopt healthy lifestyles.