Open AccessModified Sphygmomanometer Test and MRC Muscle Scale to assess lower limb muscle strength in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a correlation study
Author(s) -
GJulia Magalhães Waybe Gonçalves,
Danielle Antoniazzi Kirscht Auermann D'Allembert Costa Sousa,
Marcela Ferreira de Andrade Rangel,
Maria Alice Dias da Costa,
Mariana Asmar Alencar
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.5327/1516-3180.341
Subject(s) - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , correlation , rating scale , medicine , physical therapy , physical medicine and rehabilitation , statistical significance , sitting , mathematics , statistics , pathology , geometry , disease
Background: The measurement of strength through MRC Muscle Scale (MRC) is the most widely used method to follow the evolution of disabilities in people diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), since it is easy and fast to measure. However, it has been considered a subjective and evaluator dependent method. A possibility to measure strength is the Modified Sphygmomanometer Test (MST): an objective method, low-cost and with adequate construct validity with the hand dynamometer.Objective: Verify the correlation between MST, MRC and the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating (ALSFRS-R). Methods: Exploratory study, in which participated individuals with up to 1 year of diagnosis of sporadic ALS, able to perform the tests in the sitting position. The MRC, MST and ALSFRS-R were applied and hip flexors and knee extensors was tested. Pearson’s correlation was used to evaluate the association between the strength tests and ALSFRS- R with a significance level of 0.05. Results: Statistical analysis showed significant correlation between the measurements performed by the MRC and MST (r= 0.757; p<0.000). The MRC showed high correlation with total ALSFRS (r=0.700; p<0.001) and moderate with ALSFRS gross motor domain (r=0.765; p<0.000). MST showed low correlation with total ALSFRS (r=0.419; p<0.047) and moderate with ALSFRS gross motor domain (r=0.534; p<0.009). Conclusion: Both tests correlated with the functional scale, yet the MRC correlated in greater magnitude. Therefore, the measurement of muscle strength, when performed by the MRC, can be an alternative in the clinical setting for monitoring patients with ALS.