Background To compare long-term effects of antigravity treadmill (AGT) combined with conventional rehabilitation (CR) and CR after hip fracture in patients with sarcopenia. Methods Forty-five patients were randomly allocated to AGT combined with CR (experimental group) or CR (control group) for 10 consecutive working days. Participants were evaluated prior to treatment, 3 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after treatment. Outcome measurement included Koval walking ability scores functional ambulatory category (FAC), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination, Euro Quality of Life Questionnaire Five-Dimensional Classification, Korean version of modified Barthel index, and grip strength. Results At 3 weeks and 3 months, the comparison of change scores in KOVAL between two groups revealed difference of 0.84 (95% CI: −1.19, −0.49; p for trend = .000) and 1.21 (95% CI: −2.05, −0.36; p for trend = .006), respectively. At 3 weeks, comparison of change score in FAC between two groups revealed a difference of 0.73 (95% CI: 0.28, 1.19; p for trend = .003). The comparison of change scores between two groups also showed a difference in the 6 months in KOVAL and in the 3 and 6 months in FAC. The comparison of changes in scores in BBS between two groups revealed difference of 11.63 (95% CI: 5.85, 17.40; p for trend = .001), 9.00 (95% CI: 2.28, 15.71; p for trend = .006), and 11.05 (95% CI: 3.62, 18.48; p for trend = .006), respectively, at each follow-up. Conclusions Both groups were improved after intervention. As additional benefits were evident among those who carried out AGT, it may be appropriate for patients with sarcopenia after hip fracture surgery.

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Background: To compare the muscle strength of patients with a hip fracture according to the presence of sarcopenia after surgery and the correlation of measured values between a Biodex and surface electromyography (sEMG) in postoperative measurement of muscle strength. Methods: Seventy-one patients who underwent hip fracture surgery were included in this study. Muscle mass was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and the grip strength was evaluated using a dynamometer. The diagnosis of sarcopenia followed the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia criteria. We evaluated the Biodex to assess muscle strength according to the presence of sarcopenia and at the same time measured the sEMG to evaluate the correlation of muscle strength between Biodex and sEMG. Results: We assigned 34 patients with sarcopenia and 37 without sarcopenia to 2 groups. In the comparison of muscle strength using Biodex and sEMG between the 2 groups, it was confirmed that muscle strength of sarcopenia group was decreased compared with that of the non-sarcopenia group, although there was no statistical significance between the groups. However, Biodex and sEMG showed very close correlation with muscle strength in all variables. Conclusions: We suggest that using sEMG for the evaluation of muscle strength after hip fracture surgery may be an excellent tool alternative to isokinetic testing machines such as the Biodex.

This study analyzed the changes in the number of outpatients and disease presentation during the entirety of 2020, the period of COVID-19 pandemic.The average annual number of outpatient visits between 2017 and 2019 (before COVID-19) and the total number of outpatient visits in 2020 (COVID-19 period) were compared. Diagnostic codes were identified during 2 periods to analyze changes in the number of outpatient visits according to disease and month.The average annual number of outpatient visits was 47,105 before, and 40,786 during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a decrease of 13.4%. The number of outpatient visits in internal medicine decreased by 10.2% during the COVID-19 pandemic and tended to rebound during the second half of the year. However, the number of outpatient visits in the pediatric department decreased by 37.5% overall throughout the COVID-19 period and continued to decline in the second half of the year. The number of outpatients with infectious diseases decreased significantly (35.9%) compared to noninfectious diseases (cancer, 5.0%; circulatory disease, 4.1%). In addition, the number of outpatient visits due to viral diseases continued to decline, while the incidence of bacterial diseases increased rapidly in the second half of the year.This study confirmed that the number of outpatient visits due to bacterial or viral infections decreased throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, expanding public health and telemedicine services is necessary to prevent secondary health problems caused by essential medical use restrictions.

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