Journal international de médecine physique et de réadaptation
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Dynamometry for the Assessment of Grip, Pinch, and Trunk Strength in Subjects with Chronic Stroke: Reliability and Various Sources of Outcome Values

Christina Danielli Coelho de Morais Faria, Larissa Tavares Aguiar, Eliza Maria Lara, Lucas Araújo Castro e Souza, Júlia Caetano Martins and Luci Fuscaldi Teixeira- Salmela

Background: Muscular weakness, commonly observed in individuals with stroke, is usually assessed with portable dynamometers. However, no studies were found which investigated the reliability of the dynamometry for the assessment of grip, pinch, and trunk strength in subjects with chronic stroke, nor which evaluated the best source of outcome values. Objectives: To investigate the test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities of the portable dynamometer for the assessment of grip, pinch, and trunk strength in subjects with chronic stroke and to verify whether the use of various sources of outcomes (first trial, the means of two and three trials) affected the obtained values, as well as their reliabilities. Methods: A methodological study with 47 (58.67 ± 14.79 years) and 38 (57.05 ± 16.23 years) subjects with chronic stroke was carried out to investigate test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities, respectively. Grip and pinch (pulp-to-pulp, palmar, and lateral) strength were bilaterally assessed, as well as the strength of the trunk flexors/extensors, lateral flexors, and rotators, with portable dynamometry by two independent examiners over two sessions, 1-4 weeks apart. One-way ANOVAs were employed to compare the values between the various sources of outcome values. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated to investigate the test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities for all sources of outcome values (α=0.05). Results: For all muscular groups, similar results were found for all sources of outcome values (0.01