Ven Antoon, Van Hees Johan, Stappaerts Karel
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Acta Neurol Belg. 2008 Dec;108(4):139-42.
The objective of this study was to investigate the intra-examiner reliability of consecutive sensory nerve action potential amplitude measurements with short time intervals. Amplitudes were compared in repeated sensory nerve action potential recordings of the lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve on 63 healthy subjects. There were two sets of each two consecutive measurements, each set separated by a controlled interval of 90 minutes. Intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.996 and 0.998 for consecutive measurements, and 0.919 and 0.926 for measurements before and after a controlled interval of 90 minutes. The presented research clarifies the difference between measurement variability versus intra-subject variability and the influence on test-retest results in sensory nerve conduction measurements. This is of importance for correct interpretation of results when performing serial testing. It is demonstrated that a single tester can obtain reliable amplitude measurements of sensory nerve action potentials of the lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve in asymptomatic subjects with surface recording electrodes. It is also proven that it is sufficient to control ambient temperature instead of limb temperature for this type of study on asymptomatic subjects.
本研究的目的是调查在短时间间隔内连续进行感觉神经动作电位幅度测量时检查者内部的可靠性。对63名健康受试者的前臂外侧皮神经重复感觉神经动作电位记录中的幅度进行了比较。每两组连续测量为一组，每组测量之间间隔90分钟的可控时间。连续测量的组内相关系数分别为0.996和0.998，在90分钟的可控时间间隔前后测量的组内相关系数分别为0.919和0.926。本研究阐明了测量变异性与受试者内部变异性之间的差异以及对感觉神经传导测量中重测结果的影响。这对于在进行系列测试时正确解释结果很重要。结果表明，使用表面记录电极，单个检查者能够在无症状受试者中获得可靠的前臂外侧皮神经感觉神经动作电位幅度测量值。还证明，对于此类无症状受试者的研究，控制环境温度而非肢体温度就足够了。
