Kate Kerr

Standardization and definitions of the sit-stand-sit movement cycle

Abstract The application of a novel approach to three-dimensional analysis of the sit-stand-sit movement cycle to 10 normal healthy female subjects (age 20.1–35.1 years, height 154–167.5 cm, weight 49.5–68.6 kg) has provided a definitive framework within which the movement can be described. Information obtained from a measurement system comprising vector stereography, electrogoniometry, and triaxial accelerometry, in both analogue and digital form permitted definition of the movement cycle in terms of phases, components, and events, based on changes in displacement parameters. Within this defined framework statistical analysis of numerical data extracted from recorded movement patterns was carried out on specific temporal and spatial parameters. This enabled clear identification of those events that occurred simultaneously and those that occurred separately in the temporal context, and the relationship in both spatial and temporal context of components to each other and to the movement as a whole. This approach to the analysis of the sit-stand-sit movement cycle in which performance can be described and quantified should provide researchers with a means of standardizing and formalizing the reporting of research findings in a manner similar to that from which gait analysis has benefited greatly.

Analysis of the sit-stand-sit movement cycle: development of a measurement system

A novel approach to three-dimensional analysis of the sit-stand-sit movement cycle was developed using a measurement system, comprising vector stereography, electrogoniometry, and triaxial accelerometry, which could provide temporal and spatial information on the activity. Linearity, repeatability, and validity of individual elements of the measurement system were established and it was demonstrated that the attachment of the measurement system did not exert a significant influence on the sit-stand-sit activity. The application of the measurement system in repeated trials within a single subject showed coefficients of variation of <5% on a number of spatial and temporal parameters extracted from the data. Output from the measurement system was recorded in analogue and digital form, from which data can be extracted on displacement and acceleration of the trunk in three dimensions, and angular displacement of the knee at any point within the movement cycle. It was concluded that the measurement system can provide accurate, consistent, and reliable information on patterns of acceleration and displacement, and definitive data on temporal and spatial parameters and the relationship between them.

Exercise – No easy option

Therapeutic exercise is one of the key tools that a physiotherapist uses to restore and improve a patients musculoskeletal or cardiopulmonary well-being (Kisner and Colby, 1985). Methods of treatment in physiotherapy are constantly changing and developing, and some of the treatments which formed the basis of early physiotherapy practice have come under increasing scrutiny, lost popularity, and been replaced. The notion of patients as inert recipients of passive treatment has alternately waxed and waned over the years, but today the importance of the role of exercise is firmly established, and patients are now regarded as active participants in most treatment regimens.