Stroke survivors exhibit stronger lower extremity synergies in more challenging walking conditions

The aim of this study was to examine how kinematic synergies are utilised as compensatory movements to stabilise foot positions under different walking task constraints in people with stroke. Ten (Males = 6, Females = 4) hemiplegic chronic stroke survivors volunteered to participate in this study, recruited from a rehabilitation centre. They completed a consent form and participated in treadmill walking tasks; flat, uphill, and crossing over a moving obstacle. The uncontrolled manifold method was used to quantify kinematic synergies in the paretic and non-paretic legs during their swing phase. The results of this study showed the strength of synergies was significantly greater in the obstacle task than in the uphill walking tasks at mid and terminal swing phases. In conclusion, the results suggest that walking in the challenging situations caused people with stroke to control step stability with greater compensation between lower extremity joints. Participants adapted to the increased challenge by increasing the amount of ‘good variability’, which could be a strategy to reduce the risks of falling

Development and Evaluation of a Basic Physical and Sports Activity Program for Preschool Children in Nursery Schools in Iran: an Interventional Study

Objective: The objectives of this study were a) to develop a physical activity program for nursery schools, and b) to evaluate the effects of this program on fundamental movement skills of preschool age children in Iran. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study 147 children from five nursery schools in five different cities in Iran were enrolled. A physical activity program was developed for nursery children. Trained nursery physical activity instructors conducted the program for 10 weeks for all subjects. The levels of gross motor development of all subjects were measured before intervention and after 10 weeks physical activity program employing the Test of Gross Motor Development‐edition 2 (TGMD-2). Findings: The participants in this study had a mean (SD) age of 4.95 (0.83) years. At the end of the study, scores of subjects at all components of TGMD-2 (including locomotor, object control, sum of standard scores and gross motor quotient) were significantly improved compared to the baseline scores (P<0.001). Based on descriptive rating of the "Gross Motor Quotient" in the base line, 11.5% of subjects were superior/very superior (GMQ >120) and after 10 weeks intervention this rate was increased to 49.7% of all subjects. Conclusion: It seems that the developed physical activity program conducted by trained nursery physical activity instructors could be an effective and practical way of increasing levels of fundamental movement skills of preschool children in Iran