Effectiveness of an Assistive Instrument for Physical Therapists with Visual Impairment to Conduct the Muscle Tightness Test

Disability sports have been globally promoted to achieve an inclusive society. However, the current opportunities for people with disabilities are few in terms of participating in supporting positions, such as athletic trainers. In Japan, many people with visual impairment (VI) work as physical therapists; thus, they can become active as medical staff in the sports field. An example of a medical assessment is the muscle tightness test (MTT); however, conducting it is expected to be difficult for people with VI. To improve this difficulty, the current study developed an assistive instrument (AsI) and examined its effectiveness. We recruited 22 physical therapists with VI. The measurement for MTT targeted the hamstrings, iliopsoas, gastrocnemius, and quadriceps. The participants performed the MTT using a universal goniometer (UG) and the AsI and filled up a questionnaire. AsI was compared against UG based on three aspects, namely, ease, accuracy, and measurement time. In terms of ease, significant differences were observed in 9 out of 12 questionnaire items. The mean (SD) score for “Comprehensive ease of the MTT” improved from 2.8 (1.0) to 3.9 (0.8). For accuracy, the AsI yielded a decrease in the total error of the measurement. Lastly, the measurement time for AsI was longer than that for the UG. Therefore, the AsI was effective in terms of ease and accuracy, whereas measurement time remained as an issue.

Sports with a Bat or Racket are Not Associated with Thumb-base Osteoarthritis

ABSTRACT Context: Repetitive joint use is a risk factor for osteoarthritis, which is a leading cause of disability. Sports requiring a bat or racket to perform repetitive high-velocity impacts may increase the risk of thumb-base osteoarthritis. However, this hypothesis remains untested. Objective: To determine if a history of participation in racket or bat sports is associated with the prevalence of thumb-base osteoarthritis. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting: Osteoarthritis Initiative. Four clinical sites in the United States. Participants: We included men and women from the recruited from the community. Eligible participants had dominant hand radiographic readings, hand symptom assessments, and historical physical activity survey data. Main Outcome Measures: A history of exposure to racket or bat sports (baseball/softball, racquetball/squash, badminton, table tennis, tennis [doubles/singles]) was based on self-reported recall data covering 3 age ranges (12–18 years, 19–34 years, 35–49 years). Prevalent radiographic thumb-base osteoarthritis was defined as someone with Kellgren-Lawrence grade≥2 in the first carpometacarpal joint or scaphotrapezoidal joint at the OAI baseline visit. Symptomatic thumb-base osteoarthritis was defined as the presence of radiographic osteoarthritis and hand/finger symptoms. Results: In total, we included 2309 participants. Among 1049 men, 355 (34%) and 56 (5%) had radiographic or symptomatic thumb-base osteoarthritis, respectively; and among 1260 women, 535 (42%) and 170 (13%), respectively. After adjusting for age, race, and education level, we found no statistically significant associations between a history of any racket or bat sport participation and thumb-base osteoarthritis (radiographic or symptomatic; odds ratios range from 0.82 to 1.34). Conclusions: Within a community-based cohort, a self-reported history of participation in racket or bat sports was not associated with an increased odds of having radiographic or symptomatic thumb-base osteoarthritis in the dominant hand.

More Than Medals

How does a small provincial city in southern Japan become the site of a world-famous wheelchair marathon that has been attracting the best international athletes since 1981? This book answers the question and addresses the histories of individuals, institutions, and events — the 1964 Paralympics, the FESPIC Games, the Ōita International Wheelchair Marathon, the Nagano Winter Paralympics, and the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games that played important roles in the development of disability sports in Japan. Sporting events in the postwar era, the book shows, have repeatedly served as forums for addressing the concerns of individuals with disabilities. The book provides new insights on the cultural and historical nature of disability and demonstrates how sporting events have challenged some stigmas associated with disability, while reinforcing or generating others. The book analyzes institutional materials and uses close readings of media, biographical sources, and interviews with Japanese athletes to highlight the profound — though often ambiguous — ways in which sports have shaped how postwar Japan has perceived and addressed disability. The book's novel approach highlights the importance of the Paralympics and the impact that disability sports have had on Japanese society.

Lost Games

This chapter highlights the FESPIC Movement's place in Japan's history of disability sports. It explores FESPIC's relationship with the Paralympic Movement and the FESPIC Federation's absorption by the new Asian Paralympic Committee (APC), which serves as an important reminder that the development of the Paralympic organizations was never a forgone conclusion. It also talks about how FESPIC Games posed challenges to the larger Paralympic Movement that fostered important changes in the process. The chapter analyzes the establishment of the APC, which offered a case study of regional efforts to come to terms with the emerging International Olympic Committee/International Paralympic Committee (IOC/IPC) juggernaut in international sports. It cites the formal integration with the IPC that proved increasingly unavoidable for organizations like FESPIC.

Japan’s “Cradle of Disability Sports”

This chapter investigates how Ōita's seemingly anomalous prominence in the world of wheelchair marathons came about and what it has meant to Ōita, its people, and athletes with disabilities. It elaborates how the Ōita Prefecture had become known as Japan's “cradle of disability sports,” a reputation that was attained through Dr. Nakamura Yutaka's work with the Paralympics and FESPIC. It also explains how Nakamura played an important role in the establishment of Ōita's marathon, considering his motivations and methods for launching another international sports event for those with disabilities. The chapter talks about the marathon and how it was established in response to intersecting international, local, and personal forces. It reviews how the marathon has benefited from sustained local government support, which made it an ideal site for exploring how and why disability sports have been leveraged for local gains in Ōita.

Tokyo’s Other Games

This chapter recounts how Japan became the third country, and the first outside Europe, to host the Paralympic Games in 1964. It reviews official and institutional reports, and general overviews of the Tokyo Paralympics that focus almost exclusively on key organizers whose vision and effort helped overcome various obstacles to bring the Paralympics to Japan. It also considers events leading up to the Games that reveal a more complex picture involving intersecting personal local, national, and transnational actors and motivations, which culminated in intense pressure to hold the Games in Tokyo immediately following the Summer Olympics. The chapter discusses the representations of athletes participating in the 1964 Tokyo Paralympics who share several similarities with those from recent disability sports events. It provides an analysis of the materials associated with the 1964 Games that offer insights that go beyond adding a “non-Western” perspective.

A Turning Point

This chapter highlights key differences between Tokyo and Nagano which explain why the 1998 Games came to be seen as a turning point and fostered the “normalization” of disability sports in Japan. It situates the Games in their larger sociohistorical context in order to understand the differences apparent in Nagano and their consequent impacts. It also reviews how the 1998 Winter Paralympics were organized and held against a backdrop of increased attention to disability-related issues. The chapter refers to Japan's deep engagement in several international disability awareness and rights programs that linked to the United Nations. It discusses the 1990s in Japan, which was marked by significant changes in national activism, policies, and approaches related to disability.