ObjectiveTo verify the influence of sour taste on swallowing and the presence of reflex cough when sour material was swallowed in patients with dysphagia secondary to brain injury.MethodFifty dysphagic brain injury patients who underwent videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) were recruited. The patients who had shown severe aspiration at 2 ml of liquid were excluded. The dysphagic patients were given 5 ml each of a sour tasting liquid (SOUR) and a thin liquid barium (LIQUID) in random order. An expert analyzed the result of VFSS by reviewing recorded videotapes. Analysis components consisted of the Penetration-Aspiration-Scale (PAS) score, oral transit time (OTT), pharyngeal transit time (PTT), pharyngeal delay time (PDT) and the reflex cough presence.ResultsThe PAS score for SOUR was significantly lower than the one for LIQUID (p=0.03). The mean OTT for SOUR was significantly shortened compared to that for LIQUID (p=0.03). The mean PTT and PDT were also shortened in SOUR, although the differences were not statistically significant (p=0.26 and p=0.32, respectively). There was no significant difference between SOUR and LIQUID regarding the presence of reflex cough (p=1.00).ConclusionThe sour taste could enhance sensorimotor feedback in the oropharynx, thus lowering the chances of penetration-aspiration caused by shortening of the oropharyngeal passage times. There was no significant difference in the presence of reflex cough produced between LIQUID and SOUR.

ObjectiveTo identify the validity and reliability of the Korean version World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL)-BREF among people with physical impairments living in a community.MethodsParticipants listed in the community-based rehabilitation project were recruited from 45 public health centers. People with brain lesions or physical disabilities were selected. Respondents (n=750) filled out the Korean WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Obtained data were analyzed statistically to assess the internal consistency as well as the construct and discriminant validity. An exploratory factor analysis was also performed.ResultsCronbach's α for the total score was 0.839. The value for each domain ranged from 0.746 to 0.849. Pearson correlation coefficient between each domain ranged from 0.539 to 0.717. The highest correlation was between the psychological and physical domain. The item-domain correlation indicated a significant correlation with their original domains. A multiple regression analysis of each domain with two overall questions was performed. The psychological domain made the strongest contribution with the overall quality of life (unstandardized coefficient B=0.065, r2=0.437). When general health satisfaction was considered as a dependent variable, the physical domain most strongly contributed to the variable (unstandardized coefficient B=0.081, r2=0.462). Exploratory factor analysis yielded four factors in the WHOQOL-BREF, accounting for 55.29% of the variability. To assess the discriminant validity, a comparison of each domain with Modified Barthel Index (MBI) was conducted. There were highly significant changes across the MBI scores with the WHOQOL-BREF domains (p<0.001).ConclusionKorean WHOQOL-BREF is a valid and reliable tool to measure the quality of life for people with physical impairments. It has good internal consistency, construct validity and discriminant validity for the population. Further study with a stratified sample is needed.

Promoting physical activities is important for medical and functional recovery after stroke. Therefore, an accurate and convenient measurement of physical activities is necessary to provide feedback on functional status and effects of rehabilitative interventions. We assessed the feasibility, reliability, and validity of wearing accelerometers to monitor physical activities of stroke patients by estimating energy expenditure. This was a prospective observational quantitative study conducted in an inpatient rehabilitation unit. Twenty-four patients with subacute stroke were enrolled. They wore accelerometers on wrists and ankles for three consecutive weekdays. The feasibility was evaluated by daily wear-time. The test-retest reliability was determined by intra-class correlation coefficient. The validity was evaluated by comparing accelerometeric data to behavior mappings using Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient (r) and Bland-Altman plots. Average wearing time for four accelerometers was 20.99 ± 3.28 hours per day. The 3-day accelerometer recording showed excellent test-retest reliability. For sedentary activities, wrist accelerometers showed higher correlation with direct observation than ankle accelerometers. For light to moderate activities, ankle accelerometers showed higher correlation with direct observation than wrist accelerometers. Overall, combined models of accelerometers showed higher correlation with direct observation than separate ones. Wearing accelerometers for 24 h may be useful for measuring physical activities in subjects with subacute stroke in an inpatient rehabilitation unit.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is widely used for several neurological conditions, as it has gained acknowledgement for its potential therapeutic effects. Brain excitability is non-invasively modulated by rTMS, and rTMS to the language areas has proved its potential effects on treatment of aphasia. In our protocol, we aim to artificially induce virtual aphasia in healthy subjects by inhibiting Brodmann area 44 and 45 using neuronavigational TMS (nTMS), and F3 of the International 10-20 EEG system for conventional TMS (cTMS). To measure the degree of aphasia, changes in reaction time to a picture naming task pre- and post-stimulation are measured and compare the delay in reaction time between nTMS and cTMS. Accuracy of the two TMS stimulation methods is compared by averaging the Talairach coordinates of the target and the actual stimulation. Consistency of stimulation is demonstrated by the error range from the target. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate use of nTMS and to describe the benefits and limitations of the nTMS compared to those of cTMS.