Manual Muscle Testing—Force Profiles and Their Reproducibility
- The manual muscle test (MMT) is a flexible diagnostic tool, which is used in many disciplines, applied in several ways. The main problem is the subjectivity of the test. The MMT in the version of a “break test” depends on the tester’s force rise and the patient’s ability to resist the applied force. As a first step, the investigation of the reproducibility of the testers’ force profile is required for valid application. The study examined the force profiles of n = 29 testers (n = 9 experiences (Exp), n = 8 little experienced (LitExp), n = 12 beginners (Beg)). The testers performed 10 MMTs according to the test of hip flexors, but against a fixed leg to exclude the patient’s reaction. A handheld device recorded the temporal course of the applied force. The results show significant differences between Exp and Beg concerning the starting force (padj = 0.029), the ratio of starting to maximum force (padj = 0.005) and the normalized mean Euclidean distances between the 10 trials (padj = 0.015). The slope is significantly higher in Exp vs.The manual muscle test (MMT) is a flexible diagnostic tool, which is used in many disciplines, applied in several ways. The main problem is the subjectivity of the test. The MMT in the version of a “break test” depends on the tester’s force rise and the patient’s ability to resist the applied force. As a first step, the investigation of the reproducibility of the testers’ force profile is required for valid application. The study examined the force profiles of n = 29 testers (n = 9 experiences (Exp), n = 8 little experienced (LitExp), n = 12 beginners (Beg)). The testers performed 10 MMTs according to the test of hip flexors, but against a fixed leg to exclude the patient’s reaction. A handheld device recorded the temporal course of the applied force. The results show significant differences between Exp and Beg concerning the starting force (padj = 0.029), the ratio of starting to maximum force (padj = 0.005) and the normalized mean Euclidean distances between the 10 trials (padj = 0.015). The slope is significantly higher in Exp vs. LitExp (p = 0.006) and Beg (p = 0.005). The results also indicate that experienced testers show inter-tester differences and partly even a low intra-tester reproducibility. This highlights the necessity of an objective MMT-assessment. Furthermore, an agreement on a standardized force profile is required. A suggestion for this is given.…
Verfasserangaben: | Frank BittmannORCiDGND, Silas DechORCiD, Markus Aehle, Laura SchaeferORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics10120996 |
ISSN: | 2075-4418 |
Titel des übergeordneten Werks (Englisch): | Diagnostics |
Verlag: | MDPI |
Verlagsort: | Basel |
Publikationstyp: | Wissenschaftlicher Artikel |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Datum der Erstveröffentlichung: | 31.10.2020 |
Erscheinungsjahr: | 2020 |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 08.12.2020 |
Freies Schlagwort / Tag: | adaptive force; force profiles; handheld device; manual muscle testing; neuromuscular diagnostics; reproducibility |
Band: | 10 |
Ausgabe: | 12 |
Seitenanzahl: | 30 |
Fördernde Institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Fördernummer: | PA 2020_116 |
Organisationseinheiten: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Sport- und Gesundheitswissenschaften |
DDC-Klassifikation: | 6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit |
Peer Review: | Referiert |
Fördermittelquelle: | Publikationsfonds der Universität Potsdam |
Publikationsweg: | Open Access / Gold Open-Access |
Lizenz (Deutsch): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
Externe Anmerkung: | Zweitveröffentlichung in der Schriftenreihe Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe ; 671 |