Research Report Abstracts - Gesundheit

WPT2011, Research Report Abstracts eS893
Research Report Poster Display
Number: RR-PO-303-5-Thu Thursday 23 June 13:00
RAI: Exhibit Halls 2&3
IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF PASSIVE STRETCHING
AND ACTIVE STRETCHING ON HAMSTRING
FLEXIBILITY: A SINGLE-BLINDED RANDOMIZED
CONTROL TRIAL
Nishikawa Y. 1 , Akiyama Y. 2 , Noguchi A. 3 , Aizawa J. 4
1Saitama Prefectural University, Graduate Course of Health
and Social Services, Saitama, Japan, 2Sonoda Daiichi Hospital,
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tkyo, Japan,
3Kashima Hospital, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine,
Ibaraki, Japan, 4Ryotokuji University, Department of Physical
Therapy, Chiba, Japan
Purpose: The tightness of hamstring muscle is one of the
main factors hindering the performance of the daily and sports
activities. There have been a number of reports on the stretching
techniques, however little research has been performed on
the comparison of effects of different techniques. This study
aims to compare a passive and an active stretching technique
to determine which one would produce the greatest gain of
hamstring flexibility in healthy subjects.
Relevance: Stretching technique is one of the general physical
therapy program. The results of this study may be useful
in selecting of effective technique.
Participants: Fifty four healthy young subjects (27 men,
27 women; mean ± SD: age, 20.37 ± 0.19 years; height,
163.53 ± 14.30 cm; weight, 59.64 ± 8.48 kg), with limited
hamstring flexibility, below 70 ◦ by active knee extension test
at 90 ◦ of hip flexion (AKET), were randomly assigned to one
of three groups (two treatment groups and 1 control group).
Methods: Subjects of passive stretching group were performed
knee extension by one examiner in lying supine at
90 ◦ of hip flexion. At the same position, subjects of active
stretching group extended the knee actively. These groups
performed 5 sets of the assigned stretch, with each stretch
held for 10 seconds at the point where tightness in the hamstrings
muscles was felt. Subjects of control group did not
perform stretching. Before and immediately after stretching,
hamstring flexibility was assessed by the blinded assessor,
an adaptation of supine AKET using an analog inclinometer
(Shinwa Corp., Japan).
Analysis: The gains in motion range of three groups were
compared using a 1-factor (technique) repeated measures
ANOVA. The Tukey multiple comparisons test was used to
detect significant pairwise differences between groups. For
all analyses, significance was considered at p < 0.05.
Results: The ANOVA revealed a significant difference
between groups. Multiple comparisons test indicated a significant
difference between the control group (mean ± SD:
gain = 0.83 ± 1.57 ◦ ) and both stretching groups. A significant
difference between the passive stretching group
(mean ± SD: gain = 15.88 ± 4.13 ◦ ) and the active stretching
group (mean ± SD: gain = 7.37 ± 6.60 ◦ ) was found.
Conclusions: Our results suggested that passive stretching
is more effective than the active stretching for immediate
increasing hamstring flexibility measured by AKET. Further
investigations are necessary to compare the effect of stretching
relating an age and disease.
Implications: These findings suggest that the individual passive
stretching by the therapist is more effective.
Keywords: Stretching; Passive technique; Active technique
Funding acknowledgements: This study was unfunded.
None of the authors received salaries or any other financial
benefit by participation in this study.
Ethics approval: Ethics Committee of the Saitama Prefectural
University.
Research Report Poster Display
Number: RR-PO-202-25-Thu Thursday 23 June 12:00
RAI: Exhibit Halls2&3
KINEMATIC FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH
ELONGATION OF STEP LENGTH IN HEALTHY
MEN
Nishimori T. 1 , Ito A. 2
1Kansai Vocational College of Medicine, Physical Therapy,
Osaka, Japan, 2Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences,
Graduate School, Laboratory of Sport Biomechanics,
Osaka, Japan
Purpose: The present study investigated whether moving the
front extremity forward over the center of mass at the moment
of initial contact or moving the rear extremity backward at
the moment of preswing affects the elongation of step length.
Relevance: Factors contributing to the elongation of step
length in healthy individuals represent important basic information.
Participants: Subjects comprised 6 healthy men (mean age,
19.7 ± 0.52 years). All subjects provided written informed
consent to participate in the study.
Methods: Three cameras were used to videotape subjects
while walking on the ground at a sampling rate of 100 Hz.
Each subject walked with an adjustable-speed pacemaker
along a 20 meter path. Walking speeds were set at 1.3, 1.9
and 2.5 meter/second. Twenty-six body landmarks were digitized
using a motion analysis system. Walking speed was
calculated from the center of body mass.
Analysis: Step length was divided into two components for
examination: (1) touch-down distance (TD), as the anterior
horizontal distance between heel contact and center of mass
(COM) using body inertia parameters at initial contact and (2)
release distance (RD), as anterior horizontal distance between
toe-off and COM at the moment of preswing. In addition,
joint angles of the hip, knee, ankle, and pelvic rotation at
both initial contact and preswing were calculated by motion
analysis. Since position of the trunk greatly influences the
distribution of COM, the angle of trunk lean on the sagittal