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Assessing grip strength in healthy individuals and patients with immune‐mediated polyneuropathies
Author(s) -
Merkies I.S.J.,
Schmitz P.I.M.,
Samijn J.P.A.,
Meché F.G.A. Van Der,
Toyka K.V.,
van Doorn P.A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4598(200009)23:9<1393::aid-mus10>3.0.co;2-o
Subject(s) - chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy , medicine , grip strength , hand strength , polyneuropathy , analysis of variance , physical therapy , rank correlation , guillain barre syndrome , immunology , antibody , machine learning , computer science
Grip strength reference values for a portable dynamometer, the hand‐held Vigorimeter, were calculated, and its validity, reliability, and responsiveness were examined in patients with immune‐mediated polyneuropathies. We studied 530 healthy controls (age 5–93 years), 113 patients with stable polyneuropathy (83 with Guillain‐Barré syndrome [GBS], 22 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy [CIDP], and 8 with a gammopathy‐associated polyneuropathy), and 20 patients with GBS or CIDP and changing clinical conditions (longitudinal group). An arm‐disability scale was also assessed. Grip‐strength reference values were calculated depending primarily on age and gender. Significant association was obtained between the Vigorimeter and the arm scale (in stable group, Spearman rank: r = −0.52 to −0.62; P ≤ 0.0005; in longitudinal group, linear regressions: r = 0.62–0.64, P < 0.0001). Good interobserver and intra‐observer agreements (analysis of variance, r = 0.95–0.97) and high responsiveness (standardized response mean scores ≥ 0.8) were demonstrated for the Vigorimeter. These results emphasize the clinical usefulness of the Vigorimeter, particularly in patients with immune‐mediated polyneuropathies. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 23: 1393–1401, 2000.