BACKGROUND: We were interested in getting feedback from physical therapists practicing in individualized home health programs about the present situation and the problems of home-based rehabilitation therapy services. METHODS: We recruited 110 physical therapists practicing in individualized home-visiting health programs offered at health centers. They each completed a 15-item self-administered questionnaire including personal information, therapy environments, characteristics of patients, treatment outcomes and suggestions. RESULTS: Of the 110 respondents, 66 (60%) were engaged in home-based rehabilitation therapy services with other duties. Sixty (54.5%) indicated that >25% of patients improved with home-based therapy and 90% of patients were satisfied with the services they received. Eighty-three (75.5%) respondents indicated that the amount of therapy provided was insufficient, 82 (74.5%) thought that there were no measurement tools to use except for the rehabilitation therapy services records and 27 (24.6%) had evaluation meetings with other medical service members for >50% of their patients. CONCLUSION: The majority of the physical therapists in our study indicated that the home-based rehabilitation therapy services satisfied the needs of patients and improved their functional abilities. However, amount of therapy, use of measurement tools for outcome evaluations and comprehensive team approach were indicated as insufficient. We conclude that increasing the number of physical therapists and systematizing the home-based rehabilitation therapy services would improve the present situation.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Humans ; Physical Therapists

No abstract available.
Education* ; Humans ; Licensure* ; Physical Therapists*

Recently, various health associations have been attempting to establish separate bills favorable to their societies. A separate bill governing physical therapists was proposed at the 20th National Assembly in May 2019. The Korean Medical Association expressed strong concern about the introduction of the bill, while the Korean Physical Therapy Association welcomed it. Fortunately, the bill is currently pending in the National Assembly. Given the variety of opinions that coexist in the bill, this paper aims to point out the problems of separate bills and to suggest a proper response strategy by the medical community to the bill. First, we look at the original tasks of physical therapists throughout history. Second, we focus on legal problems regarding the physical therapist bill, based on the Constitutional Court's past rulings. Third, we seek response strategies of the medical community. In conclusion, the bill does not reflect the reality of medical care and makes many dangerous public health provisions. The National Assembly should carefully review the bill and listen to the opinions of the medical community.
Humans ; Physical Therapists ; Public Health

OBJECTIVE: To examine inter-rater reliability of the Korean version Gross Motor Function Measure (K-GMFM-88) and the Gross Motor Performance Measure (GMPM) based on the video clips. METHOD: We considered a sample of 39 children (28 boys and 11 girls; the mean age=3.50+/-1.23 years) with cerebral palsy (CP). Two pediatric physical therapists assessed the children based on video recordings. RESULTS: For the K-GMFM-88, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC3, 1) ranged from .978 to .995, and Spearman's correlation coefficient ranged from .916 to .997. For the GMPM, ICC3, 1 ranged from .863 to .929, and Spearman's correlation coefficient ranged from .812 to .885. With the gross motor function classification system classified according to the functional level (GMFCS I-II vs. III-V), the ICCs were .982 and .994 for the K-GMFM-88 total score and .815 and .913 for the GMPM total score. There were good or high correlations between the subscales of the two measures (r=.762-.884). CONCLUSION: The K-GMFM-88 and GMPM are reliable tools for assessing the motor function of children with CP. These two methods are highly correlated, which adds more reliability on them. Thus, it is advisable to use K-GMFM-88 and GMPM for children with CP to assess gross motor function.
Cerebral Palsy ; Child ; Humans ; Physical Therapists

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the recognition about clinical application of "neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT)". METHOD: We surveyed on the recognition for Bobath and NDT concepts and its training programs provided by Korean Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine from Jan 2009 to Feb 2009. The survey was made for physiatrists and physical therapists (PTs), separately. One hundred twelve physiatrists and 322 PTs have participated. RESULTS: In physiatrist, interest in NDT was very high (98%), and the need for further knowledge of NDT was also high (95%). Though the NDT was mainly used techniques in neuro-rehabilitation setting, the expectation about effectiveness of it was moderate (56%) and the requirement of changing concepts of the NDT was very high (93%). PTs have carried out NDT most frequently with Bobath's concepts, but they also did not regard NDT as the best procedure. PTs emphasized the importance of their handling technique in NDT practices and also had high interest in the other maneuvers beside Bobath's. CONCLUSION: Physiatrists and PTs regard NDT as one of the most important treating method for patients with brain lesions, but it is not approved as the most effective method yet. Nowadays NDT is changing or adapting, with discarding some of the old Bobath's concepts and adding new modern scientific knowledge. Therefore we suggest that physiatrists to give PTs the revised NDT concepts and evidence based the other therapeutic methods. And the NDT needs to be verified its therapeutic efficacy with evidence based view points through proper studies.
Brain ; Handling (Psychology) ; Humans ; Physical Therapists

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of core strengthening on trunk balance in patients with subacute stroke. METHOD: Fifty-nine subacute hemiparetic stroke in-patients participated in this study. All patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the control group and the experimental group. Both groups received the same conventional physical therapies for 4 weeks. The experimental group received an additional core strengthening program (CSP). Korean mini-mental state examination (K-MMSE) and Korean Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI) were performed on admission. CSP was performed for 30 minutes a day, 3 days per week for 4 weeks. We selected nine exercises available for stroke patients, and divided them as three steps according to the degree of difficulty. Because of the muscle weakness in stroke patients, a physical therapist often helped them during exercise. Outcome measurement included trunk control test (TCT), trunk impairment scale (TIS), and Berg balance scale (BBS) and we compared both groups before and after the period of training. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in baseline general characteristics and initial values between the two groups. After rehabilitation therapy, both groups showed significant improvements in BBS, TIS, and TCT (p<0.05). Following 4 weeks of therapy, changes of BBS, TIS score in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p<0.05). However, the change of TCT score was not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Analysis of different clinical parameters showed that better outcomes in BBS, TIS scores were achieved from CSP. This study suggests that CSP conducted for 4 weeks may be beneficial as a therapeutic technique for use in improvement of trunk balance in patients with subacute hemiparetic stroke.
Exercise ; Humans ; Muscle Weakness ; Physical Therapists ; Stroke

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to translate the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) to the Korean version (K-BBS) and to evaluate its reliability. METHOD: With the agreement of Katherine Berg, the original editor of the BBS, two physiatrists and three physical therapists had translated the English version of BBS into Korean (K-BBS). This was back-translated into English by a Korean-American physiatrist fluent in English. After a 2- hour K-BBS education course, the video recorded K-BBS of 18 stroke patients were reviewed by nine examiners (four physiatrists and five physical therapists) to assess the inter- rater and the intra-rater reliability. Kendall's correlation coefficient and Pearson's correlation coefficient were computed to assess the intra-rater and test-retest reliability, respectively. RESULTS: The inter-rater reliability was 0.97 at 2 separate evaluations with an interval of 10 days (p<0.05). The intra- rater reliability was 0.95 (p<0.05) in the physiatrist group and 0.97 (p<0.05) in the physical therapist group. CONCLUSION: We recommend that the Korean version of the Berg balance scale is a reliable instrument to be used in balance assessment of stroke patients.
Education ; Humans ; Physical Therapists ; Rehabilitation ; Stroke

During recent years, many robots have been used for rehabilitation therapy and the rehabilitation robots have also advanced considerably. These robots can eliminate the repetitive tasks of the occupational or physical therapist and provide high-intensity and high-dosage training for the patients. In general, the robots used for rehabilitation therapy are classified into therapeutic and assistive robots, and therapeutic robots can be further divided into end-effector and exoskeleton types. In the study, we reviewed the clinical use of robot-assisted therapy as a part of rehabilitation medicine, especially in patients with stroke and Parkinson's disease.
Humans ; Parkinson Disease ; Physical Therapists ; Rehabilitation* ; Robotics ; Stroke

Physiotherapy has recently become an essential part of enhanced recovery protocols after thoracic surgery. The evidence-based practice of physiotherapy is essential for the effective management of postoperative patients. Unfortunately, only a small body of literature has discussed the rationale of the physiotherapy interventions that are routinely implemented following thoracic surgery. Nonetheless, we can integrate the available knowledge into our practice until new evidence emerges. Therefore, in this review, the principles of physiotherapy after thoracic surgery are presented, along with a detailed description of physiotherapy interventions, with the goals of enhancing the knowledge and practical skills of physiotherapists in postoperative care units and helping them to re-evaluate and justify their traditional practices.
Evidence-Based Practice ; Humans ; Physical Therapists* ; Postoperative Care ; Thoracic Surgery*

OBJECTIVE: We performed to obtain the normal values of Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) in normally developed children. We designed this study to inform the degree of gross motor functional disability or delay in children with cerebral palsy, comparing with score values of GMFM in normal children. METHOD: One hundred-sixteen normally developed children who were in the age of 12 to 47 months were recruited. Their GMFM tests were performed by a pediatric physical therapist. They were grouped by age of 6 months and the scores were compared with all of each groups. Results: The GMFM scores in normal children increased with ages. The rates of increment in scores were fast till 35 months of age and inter-individual differences of GMFM scores were greater in younger age groups (less than 36 months of age) than older groups. Even the means of GMFM scores were higher in the girls than boys, the differences between sexes were insignificant statistically. CONCLUSION: Norms of GMFM obtained in normally developed children who were in the age of 12 to 47 months. It would be helpful to assess the degree of motor functional disabilities or delay in children with physical disabilities.
Cerebral Palsy ; Child* ; Female ; Humans ; Physical Therapists ; Reference Values