SUMMARYBackground: Assessment of impairment and disability measures on dynamic balance status of elderly patients is well documented in the rehabilitation of neuromuscular disorders. Few studies however considered similar evaluation in musculoskeletal disorders. Objective: To determine the influence of pain, hip range of motion and level of activity on dynamic balance among elderly people with hip osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Elderly patients with hip OA participated in the cross-sectional survey. The impairment measures were assessed using the visual analogue scale and double-arm universal goniometer whilst their levels of activity were assessed with the Barthel Index. Participants performed Turn-180 on two trials by taking steps clockwise and anti-clockwise round a sturdy arm chair. The total number of steps taken to complete each Turn-180 was determined. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data whilst Pearson moment correlation coefficient determined the correlations of the variables at 95% confidence interval. Results: The study involved 87 participants comprising 40(46%) males and 47(54%) females. The age of the participants ranged from 60 to 74years with a mean of 65.8±4.5years. There was a positive and significant correlation (r=0.596; p<0.001) between the participants' pain and steps taken to complete Turn-180. The participants' hip flexibility and the level of activity were also significantly and inversely correlated with the performance of Turn-180. Conclusion:The dynamic balance of the sampled elderly patients was considerably influenced by pain, hip flexibility and level of activity, thereby putting premium on the assessment of the variables during musculoskeletal rehabilitation of elderly patients.

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Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of task-oriented circuit class training on physical fitness of stroke survivors in the early stages of stroke rehabilitation. Method: This study involved twenty (20) hemiparetic stroke survivors with ten (10) participants each in the task-oriented circuit class training group (TCCTG) and the non-circuit class training group (NCCTG). Participants in TCCTG underwent supervised TCCT with duration of 80 minutes per session, three times per week for 8 weeks in addition to conventional physiotherapy. Assessments were done at baseline and week 8 using resting heart rate (RHR), 5-minute heart rate recovery (5-min HRR), blood pressure (BP), 6-minute walk test (6-MWT), 10-metre walk test (10-MWT) and functional ambulatory category (FAC) score as outcome measures. Results: There were significant reductions in RHR, 5-min HRR, SBP and DBP (p<0.05) with significant increases in 6-MWT, 10-MWT and FAC score (p<0.05) within the TCCTG. However, only the 6-MWT and 10-MWT showed significant differences (p=0.0432 and p=0.0121) in the NCCTG. The means of RHR, 5-min HRR, SBP and DBP were significantly lower in the TCCTG than the NCCTG (p<0.05). Also, at week 8, there were significant increases in 6-MWT, 10-MWT and FAC score (p<0.05) in the TCCTG compared to the NCCTG. Conclusion: Task-oriented circuit class training can improve both physical fitness and functional capacity in stroke survivors in the early stages of stroke rehabilitation.