Reliability of Chest Wall Mobility and Its Correlation with Lung Functions in Healthy Nonsmokers, Healthy Smokers, and Patients with COPD.

Chest wall circumference measurements are common evaluation methods in clinical settings by therapists in order to obtain chest wall mobility. Previous published results have been conflicting, and there is a lot of variability in the method of testing, which needs testing in different conditions. Seventy subjects (25 healthy nonsmokers, 25 healthy smokers, and 20 COPD) aged between 18 and 70 years participated in the study. Upper and lower chest expansion (CE) measurements (2 levels) are performed with cloth inch tape. Intrarater (between day) and interrater (within-day) reliability of CE measurements was evaluated by two examiners. Lung function parameters, forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, and vital capacity (VC) were measured using a computerized spirometer (Spiro lab 3). The intrarater reliability for upper and lower CE showed very good agreement with intraclass correlation (ICC) values between 0.90 and 0.93 for upper CE and 0.85 to 0.86 for lower CE. The interrater reliability for upper CE showed good to very good agreement with ICC values ranging between 0.78 and 0.83, and lower CE showed very good agreement with ICC values ranging between 0.82 and 0.84. Upper and lower CE showed a significant and positive correlation with all lung function parameters, with strong correlation with FEV1/FVC (r = 0.68). Upper and lower CE measurements with inch tape showed good intra- and interrater reliability and reproducibility in healthy nonsmokers, healthy smokers, and COPD subjects. Compared to upper, lower CE correlated well with the lung function parameters. Upper and lower CE may be more useful in clinical practice to evaluate chest mobility and to give indirect information on lung function but interpretation with caution is required when considering implementation into clinical setting.

Association of age on cervical joint position error.

This study quantitatively assesses the association between age and cervical joint position error (JPE) and compares JPE between young and older asymptomatic subjects. Subjects (n = 230) ranging in age from 17 to 70 years volunteered to participate in the study. Cervical JPE was measured for all subjects with the active movement angle reproduction test in degrees using a digital inclinometer; testing was done in all cervical movement directions (flexion, extension, side-bending right and left, rotation right and left). Subjects were divided into two groups: young (n = 169, mean age: 32.4 years; range 17-49 years) and older (n = 61, mean age: 61.9 years; range 50-70 years) and JPE was compared. Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients were significant and positive for the association of age on cervical JPE in flexion (r = 0.71), extension (r = 0.81), side-bending right (r = 0.77), side-bending left (r = 0.84), rotation right (r = 0.84), and rotation left (r = 0.84). JPE was significantly larger (for all movement directions) in the older subject group (P < 0.001). Advancing age was significantly associated with the increasing cervical JPE and older subjects showed greater errors when compared to younger subjects.

Mediating role of body mass index in knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the role of knee circumference, body mass index (BMI), and range of motion (ROM) in predicting knee osteoarthritis (KOA). The objective is to elucidate the mediating role of BMI in influencing the relationship between age, knee circumference and pain in knee osteoarthritis, as measured with the help of the knee outcome survey (KOS) questionnaire. METHODS: The design used in this study was causal comparative. The study consisted of 66 patients with symptomatic KOA and 60 matched asymptomatic individuals. RESULT: BMI was significantly and positively correlated with both pain and knee girth for the symptomatic KOA group. This finding signifies a relationship between KOA and other indicators, such as age and knee circumference. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study would indicate an important milestone in clinical rehabilitation, especially for physical therapists, enabling them to plan, modify, and design interventions to improve the health status of KOA patients.