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Background: Locomotion training in a home visit-type preventive-care program has been reported elsewhere. However, continuation of appropriate exercises in a home setting is difficult, and few reports are available on locomotion training in a home setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of locomotion training over 3 months in a home visit-type preventive-care program for improvement of motor function among elderly people.Methods: Nine hundred and fifty-eight elderly people in Tendo City in Japan who were not currently attending any preventive-care program were invited to participate in the study, and 87 were enrolled. In the pre-intervention and post-intervention assessments, we administered an interview survey (the Kihon Checklist), the timed one-leg standing test with eyes open and the sit-to-stand test, at the participants' homes. The intervention involved one set of training exercises with the participants standing on each leg for 1 min and squatting five or six times. The participants were asked to repeat one set of the exercises three times a day at home. In addition, the participants were regularly asked over the telephone about their performance of the exercises.Results: Physical strength, cognitive function, and total scores of the Kihon Checklist were significantly lower after the intervention than before. In addition, the one-leg standing test time was significantly longer after the intervention (mean ± SD, 23.9 ± 35.4) than before (15.7 ± 20.5), and the sit-to-stand test time was significantly shorter after the intervention (13.0 ± 6.2) than before (14.8 ± 8.3).Conclusion: Locomotion training in a home-visit preventive-care program with telephone support effectively improved the motor function of elderly people who were not currently attending any preventive-care program organized by the long-term care insurance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk factors regarding anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using autogenous semitendinosus tendon by subjective evaluation of the patients. We studied 63 patients who had been followed for 18 months or longer after surgery. They comprised 31 men and 32 women aged 15–45 (mean, 25.5) years. The patients were divided into two groups by subjective scores. Subjective clinical evaluation was performed using 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS). In the high score group (group H), the VAS score was 80 mm or higher, and in the low score group (group L), the score was less than 80 mm. Forty three patients were in group H and 20 patients were in group L. The parameters examined were age, gender, sports activity level, preoperative period, complicated meniscus injury, articular cartilage status, graft tendon size, joint stability, and knee extension muscle strength. There were 26 men and 17 women in group H, and 5 men and 15 women in group L. There were significantly more women in group L (p <0.01). The mean preoperative period after injury was 23±38 months in group H, and was 52±67 months in group L (p <0.05). The average side-to-side differences in anterior laxity were 1.3±1.0 mm in group H and 2.2±1.6 mm in group L (p <0.01). There were no significant differences in other parameters between the two groups. In this study the risk factors for poor subjective outcome following hamstring ACL surgery was female gender and prolonged delay from injury to operation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]