Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad San Jorge, Villanueva de Gállego, Zaragoza, Spain.
National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
PeerJ. 2024 May 28;12:e17403. doi: 10.7717/peerj.17403. eCollection 2024.
Effective rehabilitation of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders requires multimodal assessment to guide clinicians' decision-making. Furthermore, a comprehensive assessment must include reliable tests. Nevertheless, the interrelationship among various upper limb tests remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the reliability of easily applicable upper extremity assessments, including absolute values and asymmetries of muscle mechanical properties, pressure pain threshold, active range of motion, maximal isometric strength, and manual dexterity. A secondary aim was to explore correlations between different assessment procedures to determine their interrelationship.
Thirty healthy subjects participated in two experimental sessions with 1 week between sessions. Measurements involved using a digital myotonometer, algometer, inclinometer, dynamometer, and the Nine-Hole Peg test. Intraclass correlation coefficients, standard error of the mean, and minimum detectable change were calculated as reliability indicators. Pearson's correlation was used to assess the interrelationship between tests.
For the absolute values of the dominant and nondominant sides, reliability was 'good' to 'excellent' for muscle mechanical properties, pressure pain thresholds, active range of motion, maximal isometric strength, and manual dexterity. Similarly, the reliability for asymmetries ranged from 'moderate' to 'excellent' across the same parameters. Faster performance in the second session was consistently found for the Nine-Hole Peg test. No systematic inter-session errors were identified for the values of the asymmetries. No significant correlations were found between tests, indicating test independence.
These findings indicate that the sensorimotor battery of tests is reliable, while monitoring asymmetry changes may offer a more conservative approach to effectively tracking recovery of upper extremity injuries.
有效康复上肢肌肉骨骼疾病需要多模式评估来指导临床医生的决策。此外，全面评估必须包括可靠的测试。然而，各种上肢测试之间的相互关系尚不清楚。本研究旨在评估易于应用的上肢评估的可靠性，包括肌肉力学特性、压痛阈值、主动活动范围、最大等长力量和手动灵巧性的绝对值和不对称性。次要目的是探讨不同评估程序之间的相关性，以确定它们的相互关系。
30 名健康受试者参加了两次实验，两次实验之间间隔 1 周。测量包括使用数字肌动计、压力计、测斜仪、测力计和 9 孔钉测试。使用组内相关系数、均数的标准误差和最小可检测变化来计算可靠性指标。使用 Pearson 相关评估测试之间的相互关系。
对于优势侧和非优势侧的绝对值，肌肉力学特性、压痛阈值、主动活动范围、最大等长力量和手动灵巧性的可靠性为“良好”至“优秀”。同样，相同参数的不对称性的可靠性范围从“中等”到“优秀”。在第二个会话中，9 孔钉测试的表现始终更快。在不对称性值方面，没有发现系统的会话间误差。测试之间没有发现显著相关性，表明测试独立性。
这些发现表明，传感器运动测试组合具有可靠性，而监测不对称性变化可能提供更保守的方法来有效地跟踪上肢损伤的恢复。
