Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 6 pp 1768—1790

Brief, weekly magnetic muscle therapy improves mobility and lean body mass in older adults: a Southeast Asia community case study

class="figure-viewer-img"

Figure 1. Individual functional assessments pre- and post-PEMF therapy. (A) Functional tests administered to study participants. Subject performance in the (B) timed-up and go (TUG; seconds), (C) 5X Sit to Stand (5xSTS; seconds), and (D) 4 m normal gait speed (4mNGS; meter/second), measured at baseline (pre-PEMF, week 1) and at week 12 (post-PEMF). Heat maps showing the responses of subjects by color gradient, with darker blue indicating functional improvement, white being the cutoffs based on known consensus for older adults, and red showing a less fit or frail characteristics. A TUG and 5xSTS score of ≥14 and ≥15 seconds, respectively are associated with increased falling risk in older adult [29, 30]. A gait speed of ≤ 0.8 m/s is correlated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes in the older adults [31]. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test and showed significant improvement in mobility function (p < 0.0001) with magnetic therapy for all three tests.