OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility and effects of balance training with a newly developed Balance Control Trainer (BCT) that applied the concept of vertical movement for the improvements of mobility and balance in chronic stroke patients. METHOD: Forty chronic stroke patients were randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group. The experimental group (n=20) underwent training with a BCT for 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks, in addition to concurrent conventional physical therapy. The control group (n=20) underwent only conventional therapy for 4 weeks. All participants were assessed by: the Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC), 10-meter Walking Test (10mWT), Timed Up and Go test (TUG), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Korean Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and Manual Muscle Test (MMT) before training, and at 2 and 4 weeks of training. RESULTS: There were statistically significant improvements in all parameters except knee extensor power at 2 weeks of treatment, and in all parameters except MBI which showed further statistically significant progress in the experimental group over the next two weeks (p<0.05). Statistically significant improvements on all measurements were observed in the experimental group after 4 weeks total. Comparing the two groups at 2 and 4 weeks of training respectively, 10mWT, TUG, and BBS showed statistically more significant improvements in the experimental group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Balance training with a newly developed BCT is feasible and may be an effective tool to improve balance and gait in ambulatory chronic stroke patients. Furthermore, it may provide additional benefits when used in conjunction with conventional therapies.
Gait ; Humans ; Mobility Limitation ; Postural Balance ; Stroke

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the degree to which the paralysis of a dominant hand affects quality of life (QOL) in patients with subacute stroke. METHODS: We recruited 75 patients with subacute hemiplegic stroke. Patients were divided into two groups according to the location of the lesion and the side of the dominant hand. Group 1 consisted of patients whose strokes affected the dominant hand (i.e., right hemiplegia and right dominant hand or left hemiplegia and left dominant hand). Group 2 consisted of patients whose strokes affected the non-dominant hand (i.e., left hemiplegia and right dominant hand or right hemiplegia and left dominant hand). The primary outcome measure was the Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36), which was used to evaluate health-related QOL. Secondary outcomes were scores on the Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS: We did not find any statistically significant differences between the groups in any SF-36 domain including the summaries of physical and mental component. Similarly, the MBI and BDI scores were not significantly different between the groups. CONCLUSION: The effect of paralysis on the dominant hand and QOL in patients with subacute stroke was not significantly different from the effect of paralysis on the non-dominant hand.
Depression ; Hand* ; Health Surveys ; Hemiplegia ; Humans ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Paralysis* ; Quality of Life* ; Stroke*

PURPOSE: We intend to define age-specific ranges for serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and to investigate the relationship of age to serum PSA in Korean healthy men. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From April 1992 to February 1997, 7,718 Korean men aged 30 to 79 years visited to Soonchunhyang health promotion center and were examined with serum PSA. We evaluated serum PSA of 2,321 Korean healthy men aged 50 to 79 years(1,943 aged 50 to 59 years, 292 aged 60 to 69 years, and 86 aged 70 to 79 years) using Hybritech Tandem-R aasay. Statistical analysis was performed by simple linear regression analysis using SPSS. RESULTS: Average serum PSA of 2,321 Korean healthy men was 1.25+/-1.02ng/ml, and mean value for serum PSA for men aged 50 to 59 years was 1.18+/-0.95ng/ml; for 60 to 69 years, 1.48+/-1.19ng/ml; and 70 to 79 years, 1.99+/-1.18ng/ml. Age-specific reference ranges for serum PSA for men aged 50 to 59 years were 0-3.1ng/ml; for 60 to 69 years, 0-3.9ng/ml; and for 70 to 79 years, 0-5.5ng/ml, respectively. Serum PSA concentration was correlated with age(r=0.35, p-value<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The serum PSA concentration was correlated with age and age-specific reference ranges for serum PSA in Korean healthy men were lower than those in white men. Therefore, we suggest that age-specific reference ranges for serum PSA in Korean should be defined in order to increase the detection rate of localizing prostate cencer in younger ages, and to decrease the risk of missing prostate cancer in older ages.
Health Promotion* ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Male ; Prostate ; Prostate-Specific Antigen* ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Reference Values*

OBJECTIVE: To compare the incidence and clinical characteristics of tuberculosis (tbc) between patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and kidney transplantation (KT) recipients. METHODS: Six hundreds and twenty-two patients who were diagnosed as SLE from 1990 to 2001 in Kang-Nam St. Mary's hospital were reviewed, retrospectively. As a control group, 347 kidney transplant recipients in the same center were evaluated. The extent of tbc was categorized into two groups: (1) limited disease (2) extensive disease. Cumulative steroid dosage and disease activity index including SLEDAI, serum complement levels, and anti-dsDNA titers were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The cumulative incidence rate of tbc was similar in both groups (37 cases and 5.7% in SLE versus 17 cases and 4.9% in KT). Mean interval from SLE diagnosis or KT to tbc development was not different between the two groups. The most common site of tbc was lung/pleura, and the others included lymph nodes (2 cases), knee joint (1), bone marrow (1), central nervous system (1), kidney (1), colon (1), liver (1), and skin (1) in SLE. In contrast, most of tbc (16/17) developed exclusively in the lung and pleura in KT recipients. Cumulative doses of prednisolone 1 or 6 months before tbc diagnosis were not different between the two groups. Interestingly, extensive disease tended to be more frequent in SLE patients than in KT recipients although immuno-suppressants such as cyclosporine and azathioprine were more frequently administered in KT recipients. There were no differences in disease activity index including SLEDAI, complement levels, and anti-ds DNA titers at the time of tbc diagnosis as well as in the cumulative doses of steroid between extensive and limited diseases of tbc in SLE. CONCLUSION: The cumulative incidence rate of tbc was higher in SLE patients than in general population. The patterns of tbc tended to be more extensive in SLE compared to KT recipients in whom a stronger immuno-suppression was required, suggesting that immune dysfunction implicated by SLE itself may play an important role in determining the incidence and patterns of tbc infection.
Azathioprine ; Bone Marrow ; Central Nervous System ; Colon ; Complement System Proteins ; Cyclosporine ; Diagnosis ; DNA ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Knee Joint ; Liver ; Lung ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Lymph Nodes ; Pleura ; Prednisolone ; Retrospective Studies* ; Skin ; Transplantation ; Tuberculosis*