Spasticity is a frequently observed symptom in patients with neurological impairments. Spastic movements of their upper and lower limbs are periodically measured to evaluate functional outcomes of physical rehabilitation, and they are quantified by clinical outcome measures such as the modified Ashworth scale (MAS). This study proposes a method to determine the severity of elbow spasticity, by analyzing the acceleration and rotation attributes collected from the elbow of the affected side of patients and machine-learning algorithms to classify the degree of spastic movement; this approach is comparable to assigning an MAS score. We collected inertial data from participants using a wearable device incorporating inertial measurement units during a passive stretch test. Machine-learning algorithms—including decision tree, random forests (RFs), support vector machine, linear discriminant analysis, and multilayer perceptrons—were evaluated in combinations of two segmentation techniques and feature sets. A RF performed well, achieving up to 95.4% accuracy. This work not only successfully demonstrates how wearable technology and machine learning can be used to generate a clinically meaningful index but also offers rehabilitation patients an opportunity to monitor the degree of spasticity, even in nonhealthcare institutions where the help of clinical professionals is unavailable.
[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a muscle strengthening
exercise program using an elastic band on changes in the physical abilities and quality of
life of the rural elderly. [Subjects] The subjects of this study were 46 elderly people (8
males, 38 females) aged 65 or older, who lived in a rural area and managed their daily
lives independently. [Methods] The study’s exercise program was conducted 16 times for 80
minutes each session over an eight-week period. This program consisted of several
exercises to strengthen muscular endurance and improve balance ability based on exercises
using Thera-bands. The physical abilities of the subjects were divided into muscular
endurance, upper-extremity flexibility, balance, and low-extremity agility. Each ability
was measured to compare the effects of the exercise program. In addition, the Korean
version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF questionnaire was
used to examine changes in the subjects’ quality of life. [Results] The subjects showed
improvements in muscular endurance, balance, and low-extremity agility. They also
exhibited an overall statistically significant improvement in quality of life scores after
the exercise program. In terms of the main items, changes were observed in the areas of
psychological relations, social relations, and environment. [Conclusion] The
community-centered muscle strengthening exercise program using the elastic band was found
to improve muscular endurance, balance, agility, and quality of life of rural elderly
subjects.
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