This study showed the relationship between corticosteroid dose and declines in physical function and also showed other clinical factors affecting loss of physical function among allo-HSCT patients. Our results indicate that the effectiveness of rehabilitation may be influenced by corticosteroid treatment.

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Objectives: This study compared the balance function in patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) with their balance function after subsequent training sessions with a Balance Exercise Assist Robot (BEAR). Methods: In this prospective observational study, inpatients who underwent allo-HSCT from human leukocyte antigen-mismatched relatives were enrolled from December 2015 to October 2017. Patients were allowed to leave their clean room after allo-HSCT and underwent balance exercise training using the BEAR. Sessions (20–40 min) were performed 5 days per week and consisted of three games that were performed four times each. A total of 15 sessions were performed by each patient. Patient balance function was assessed before BEAR therapy according to the mini-balance evaluation systems test (mini-BESTest), and patients were divided into two groups (Low and High) based on a 70% cut-off value for the total mini-BESTest score. Patient balance was also assessed after BEAR therapy. Results: Fourteen patients providing written informed consent fulfilled the protocol: six patients in the Low group, and eight patients in the High group. In the Low group, there was a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-evaluations in postural response, which a sub-item of the mini-BESTest. In the High group, there was no significant difference between pre- and post-evaluations in the mini-BESTest. Conclusions: BEAR sessions improve balance function in patients undergoing allo-HSCT.

Objectives: The Balance Exercise Assist Robot (BEAR) is a boarding-type robot developed to improve users’ balance performance. However, the exercise load experienced by users of the BEAR remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the exercise load of BEAR users. Methods: Recruited healthy participants were fitted with an expiratory gas analyzer, and instructed to control the avatar displayed on the computer monitor by shifting their weight on the BEAR. Three types of activity (tennis, skiing, and rodeo) were prepared for the BEAR, and the difficulty of each activity had 40 levels. Each balance exercise for each level lasted for 90 s. The BEAR was administered at levels 1, 5, 10, and then up to 40 in steps of 5 for each activity. The major parameters that were evaluated were oxygen consumption (grossVO 2 , netVO 2 ), metabolic equivalents (METs), and heart rate (HR). Two-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s post hoc test was applied to each level of each activity. Results: Fourteen healthy participants were recruited. For the rodeo activity, netVO 2 and MET values were significantly higher than those for tennis and skiing at level 20 (tennis vs. skiing vs. rodeo: netVO 2 114.0±59.7 vs. 160.6±71.1 vs. 205.6±82.9, METs 1.47±0.22 vs. 1.72±0.37 vs. 1.90±0.29) and higher. Furthermore, comparisons within activity types showed that at level 40, netVO 2 and MET were significantly higher than for level 1. The exercise intensity was found to increase along with the exercise level for all three activity types, with rodeo being the highest at 2.74 METs. Conclusions: The current findings show that the BEAR can be used for balance practice without generating excessive cardiopulmonary stress.

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