It is yet not known whether the variation in knee orthotics pressure would lead to changes in muscle activity during-sit-to-stand postural transition in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Participants in this analytical study were patients with knee OA. The research design was a cross-sectional study. They were enrolled in the study through a sample of convenience method. The primary outcome measure was surface electromyography for measuring muscle activity while changing knee orthotics pressure during sit-to-stand motion. Data were summarized with mean and standard deviation while Friedman’s test was performed for multiple comparison of variables, at a significance level of p = 0.05. Seven elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis (mean age 71.4 ± 11.8 years) participated in the study. Moderate orthotics (7.3 mmHg) led to a significant increase in the percentage maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) of tibialis anterior compared to that obtained without orthotics. Rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and biceps femoris tended to increase the % MVC with an increase in wearing pressure. It was therefore concluded that the muscle activity during sit-to-stand motion could be increased in patients with knee osteoarthritis by wearing flexible orthotics with varying pressure.

[Purpose] To investigate the effects of a flexible brace, by analyzing whether its usage; the difference in wearing pressure could change the joint position sensation in healthy participants; and develop a flexible knee brace for patients with knee osteoarthritis. [Participants and Methods] The study included eight healthy males with 14 knee joints (mean age, 22.0 ± 3.1 years). To measure joint position sense, an “angle reproduction test” was performed in three experimental conditions: 1) participants not wearing the brace, 2) the brace was secured with an appropriate force, and 3) the brace was fully secured using hook-and-loop fasteners. [Results] No significant difference was observed among groups comprising of those not wearing, those wearing with the standard force, and those wearing with the tight force. When the maximum hook-and-loop fastener was squeezed, the sensory error in joint position was maximized at both 30° and 60° flexion. [Conclusion] Joint position sense improvement was confirmed to be poor by orthosis, and an error occurred in the joint position sense by increasing the wearing pressure in orthosis. In future, measurements should be performed on patients with knee osteoarthritis who have decreased joint position sense and verify the effect of different wearing pressures verified.

〔目的〕臨床実習経験が理学療法学生の歩行分析能力に与える影響を検討する．〔方法〕対象者は，理学療法学生87名と臨床実習教育者61名，合計148名とした．歩行分析指標としてWisconsin Gait Scaleを用い，回答を比較分析した．〔結果〕臨床実習前の理学療法学生と臨床実習教育者では，8項目の回答に有意差を認めた．臨床実習後の理学療法学生と臨床実習教育者では，2項目の回答に有意差を認めた．また，臨床実習教育者の臨床経験年数別の比較では，1項目に有意差を認めた．〔結論〕臨床実習経験は，理学療法学生の歩行分析能力に影響を与え，臨床実習教育者の歩行分析能力に近づくことが示唆された．

[Purpose] We compared a knee orthosis developed with a focus on fitting pressure with the orthoses of patients with knee osteoarthritis, to examine whether the fitting pressure increased or not, and to compare the patients’ subjective evaluations of the two orthoses. [Participants and Methods] The subjects were 20 patients (8 males and 12 females) with knee osteoarthritis. First, we measured the pressure when the newly developed orthosis was worn and compared it with the pressure when the existing orthosis was worn. Then the patients reported their subjective evaluations of the difficulty of wearing, breathability, appearance, weight and wearing feeling of their existing orthosis and the newly developed orthosis on a Visual Analogue Scale. [Results] There was a significant difference in the pressure applied between the existing and newly developed orthoses. There were no significant differences in the patients’ subjective evaluations. [Conclusion] The pressure applied for the newly developed orthosis could be set higher than that of patients’ existing orthoses, but there were no differences in the patients’ subjective evaluations.

〔目的〕変形性膝関節症患者の立ち上がり動作に与える装具の影響を，既存装具と装着圧力に着目した開発装具とを比較した．〔対象と方法〕K-L分類でGrade 2が1名，Grade 3が7名，Grade 4が2名の合計10名の膝OA患者を対象とした．立ち上がり動作における関節角度，筋活動，足圧分布について，既存装具と開発装具それぞれの使用時の計測結果を比較した．〔結果〕関節角度は体幹前傾角度で，足圧分布は健側の小趾球，踵外側に有意差が認められた．筋活動は内側広筋，外側広筋ともに有意差は認められなかった．〔結語〕開発装具の装着により，膝OA患者の立ち上がり動作時の体幹前傾は抑制され，健側の小趾球と踵外側の足圧分布が軽減したことにより，両側性の立ち上がり動作ができ有用性があることが考えられる．

〔目的〕高齢者を対象に下肢反復開閉運動による敏捷性運動が歩行速度に与える即時的な影響について検討し，下肢反復開閉運動のトレーニングとしての有用性を見出すこととした．〔方法〕対象は65歳以上の高齢者14名（男性4名，女性10名，平均年齢73.1 ± 5.4歳，身長158.1 ± 11.2 cm，体重53.2 ± 12.2 kg，BMI 21.2 ± 3.8 kg/m2）とした．下肢反復開閉運動前後の歩行速度を測定し，比較検討した．〔結果〕下肢反復開閉運動前と比較して下肢反復開閉運動後は歩行速度が有意に高く，下肢反復開閉運動が歩行速度に与える即時的な影響が確認された．〔結論〕高齢者は下肢反復開閉運動により歩行速度に即時的な影響を与えることが確認され，下肢反復開閉運動のトレーニングとしての有用性が示唆された．