The aim of this study was to determine whether stroke survivor's gait performance during dual-task Timed Up and Go (TUG) test is correlated with the level of functional balance and motor impairment. Thirty stroke survivors (22 men, 8 women) were recruited for this study. The level of functional balance (Berg Balance Scale) and motor impairment (Fugl-Meyer assessment lower extremity) were assessed prior to the TUG test. TUG test was conducted under three attentional loading conditions (single, dual motor, and dual-cognitive). The time and number of steps were used to quantify gait parameters. The Spearmen's rank correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the relationship between these variables. There was moderate to strong negative correlation between functional balance and gait parameters (range −0.53 to −0.73, P < 0.05). There was a weak negative correlation observed between the time taken to complete the single task and motor impairment (r s = −0.43; P = 0.02) dual motor task and motor impairment (r s = −0.41; P = 0.02). However, there were no significant correlations between lower limb motor impairment and the number of steps in all conditions. These findings suggest that functional balance may be an influential domain of successful dual-task TUG in stroke.

The aim of this paper is to explore the research literature on the turning ability among stroke survivors. Stroke is one of the top five leading causes of death and disability in Malaysia. Stroke survivors reported a higher rate of fall incidences with turning while walking has been the major contributor in most of the incidences. The attentional task requires stroke survivors to have higher cognitive and attention function, and sound muscle coordination in order to perform multitask activities such as driving, walking and turning while talking, carrying an object (holding a plastic bag), navigating corners and overcoming obstacles within the base of support. Most of the previous studies have focused on the kinematic and gait parameters measurement of turning ability among stroke survivors. However, studies conducted on muscle activity using electromyography to evaluate the time pattern of muscle contraction during turning event is lacking. With regards to dual-task ability among stroke survivors, there is insufficient information or research into dual task (motor and cognitive) ability during turning. Further studies are needed to understand the effects of dual-task activity on muscle activity and gait parameters and how this impairment affects the turning ability. This needs to be addressed in order to prevent falls among stroke survivors.

This study was conducted in order to investigate the effects of aerobic dance on the cardiovascular fitness and body composition of sedentary women throughout 6 weeks of a training program. 31 subjects were selected in this study and divided into two groups; the experimental group consisted of 15 female subjects and the control group consisted of 16 subjects. The experimental program of the aerobic dance lasted for a period of six weeks and it include sixty-minute training sessions two times a week. The aerobic dance of each workout lasted for 40 minutes, and it involved high, low and moderate impact segments. The cardiovascular fitness was evaluated according to the following parameters: maximal oxygen uptake (ml/kg/min). Body composition was evaluated by means of the following measurements: body height (cm), body weight (cm), body mass index, waist to hip ratio and the percentage of body fat. The demographic factors of the experimental group are (mean (SD), age (30.33±7.34,) weight (58.29±7.34) height (1.55±0.06) and the mean (SD) for the controlled groups are as follow: age (27.56±3.97) weight (57.48±11.51) and height (1.56±0.05). The finding of this study showed that six weeks of aerobic dance had significant effects on the cardiovascular fitness and body composition of the subject in the experimental group. This reaffirms that those who participated in the aerobic dance training program (the experimental group) had improved their VO2max level, reduced their BMI and reduced WHR reading and reduced their percentage of body fat compared to the subject in the control group who did not participate in the aerobic dance training program. Hence, this study confirms that there are significant effects of aerobic dance on the cardiovascular fitness and body composition of sedentary women at the Clinical Training Centre, Sungai Buloh, Selangor. Keywords-) aerobic dance, body composition, maximum volume of oxygen consumption, waist to hip ratio, body mass index, body fat percentage, sedentary, women.