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Lower limb muscle impairment in myotonic dystrophy type 1: The need for better guidelines
Author(s) -
Petitclerc Émilie,
Hébert Luc J.,
Desrosiers Johanne,
Gag Cynthia
Publication year - 2015
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/mus.24521
Subject(s) - myotonic dystrophy , muscle strength , physical medicine and rehabilitation , muscle weakness , medicine , weakness , muscular dystrophy , physical therapy , anatomy
In myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), leg muscle weakness is a major impairment. There are challenges to obtaining a clear portrait of muscle strength impairment. A systematic literature review was conducted on lower limb strength impairment in late‐onset and adult phenotypes to document variables which affect strength measurement. Thirty‐two articles were reviewed using the COSMIN guidelines. Only a third of the studies described a reproducible protocol. Only 2 muscle groups have documented reliability for quantitative muscle testing and only 1 total score for manual muscle testing. Variables affecting muscle strength impairment are not described in most studies. This review illustrates the variability in muscle strength assessment in relation to DM1 characteristics and the questionable validity of the results with regard to undocumented methodological properties. There is therefore a clear need to adopt a consensus on the use of a standardized muscle strength assessment protocol. Muscle Nerve 51: 473–478, 2015