Study design: A cross-sectional postal survey. Objectives: To describe defecation stimulation methods and their outcomes, and to investigate the impact of bowel dysfunction on the quality of life (QoL) in community-dwelling persons with spinal cord injury in South Korea. Setting: Community-based, Korea. Methods: A cross-sectional postal survey was conducted. Questionnaires were sent to 459 chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients who were registered as members of the Korean Spinal Cord Injury Association. Defecation stimulation methods and their outcomes, the impact of bowel dysfunction on the QoL were investigated. Results: A total of 388 subjects (44.5±10.8 year of age; men, 76.0%; duration of time since the onset of SCI, 14.2±9.5 years) responded. Bowel-related general, social and home QoL deterioration was found in 460%. Suppositories (Supp) were most frequently used, followed by digital rectal stimulation (DRS). The mini enema (ME), which is exclusively used in Korea, was utilized in 18.8%. A defecation time of 30 min was more frequently reported in patients who stimulated defecation with Supp than in those who used DRS. Conclusions: The use of MEs and warm-water irrigations were newly identified in Korea. Bowel care-related factors that greatly deteriorate the QoL were fecal incontinence, time in one defecation 460 min, perianal skin problem, flatus incontinence and hemorrhoids. Alleviating these factors might help to improve the QoL. In particular, stimulation methods to reduce time for defecation might be recommended to persons with chronic SCI.

These results indicate that immediate EMS is more effective than delayed EMS for aiding recovery of denervation-induced MHC changes. Muscle Nerve 56: E154-E161, 2017.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the changes of body composition and muscle strength of North Korean refugees (NKRs) according to their duration of stay in South Korea.MethodsNKRs who volunteered and were living in South Korea, aged 20 to 75 years were recruited. Body compositions were analyzed by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Muscle strength was measured with the hand grip test. Demographic and migration information was obtained with a questionnaire.ResultsA total of 158 volunteers were recruited at a mean age of 48.3±11.4 years. The mean time from when they escaped from North Korea and arrived in South Korea was 5.8±4.3 years. Height, weight, and body surface area were significantly smaller in all NKRs compared to South Korean controls, except for women aged over 50 years. In females of younger ages (<50 years), NKRs with more than a 4-year stay in South Korea had a higher weight and fat mass than that of those who had a shorter stay (less than 4 years) in South Korea. All NKRs had a weaker grip strength than that of the age-matched controls from South Korea.ConclusionThe NKRs showed relatively smaller physiques and weaker muscle strength than that of the South Korean controls. In younger female NKRs, shorter South Korean stay group showed small body weight and fat mass than that of longer South Korean stay group. Specific health support programs might be needed.

A novel robotic mirror therapy system was recently developed to provide proprioceptive stimulus to the hemiplegic arm during a mirror therapy. Validation of the robotic mirror therapy system was performed to confirm its synchronicity prior to the clinical study. The mean error angle range between the intact arm and the robot was 1.97 to 4.59 degrees. A 56-year-old male who had right middle cerebral artery infarction 11 months ago received the robotic mirror therapy for ten 30-minute sessions during 2 weeks. Clinical evaluation and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies were performed before and after the intervention. At the follow-up evaluation, the thumb finding test score improved from 2 to 1 for eye level and from 3 to 1 for overhead level. The Albert's test score on the left side improved from 6 to 11. Improvements were sustained at 2-month follow-up. The fMRI during the passive motion revealed a considerable increase in brain activity at the lower part of the right superior parietal lobule, suggesting the possibility of proprioception enhancement. The robotic mirror therapy system may serve as a useful treatment method for patients with supratentorial stroke to facilitate recovery of proprioceptive deficit and hemineglect.

Shoulder pain is a common problem in the elderly, which can frequently lead to disabilities. Adhesive capsulitis, rotator cuff disease, and osteoarthritis are main causes of shoulder pain in the elderly. Because the use of the upper extremity is especially pertinent to maintain independence in the elderly, proper management of shoulder pain is crucial to preserve or restore functional independence by reducing the degree of pain as much as possible. Successful treatment of shoulder pain in the elderly depends on not only an accurate diagnosis of etiologies and appropriate treatments according to clinical characteristics, but also understanding that the mechanisms of developing those diseases were closely related to the degenerative changes with age.