HAND-HELD DYNAMOMETRY RELIABILITY IN PERSONS WITH NEUROPATHIC WEAKNESS

Objective: To determine test-retest reliability of hand-held dynamomet ry (HHD) in measuring strength of persons with neuropathic weakness. D esign: Intratester and intertester reliability of HHD-measured strengt h over a 7- to 10-day period. In addition, HHD knee strength was compa red with criterion standard of fixed dynamometry (FD). Setting: Human performance laboratory of a university. Participants: Convenience samp le of ambulatory outpatients with Hereditary Motor and Sensory Neuropa thy, Type I (HMSN) (n = 10) and able-bodied controls (CTL) (n = 11). M ain Outcome Measure: Maximal isometric torque. Results: Intratester in traclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were high, generally ranging from .82 to .96 for HHD- and FD-measured strength for both HMSN and CT L groups. There were no significant differences between sesions for HH D-measured strength, while ED-measured strength was only significantly different for knee extension (p < .01). Intertester reliability was g enerally good for both HHD- and FD-measured strength, with ICCs rangin g from .72 to .97 for HMSN and CTL groups. Exceptions were knee extens ors and ankle dorsiflexors for the CTL group. Knee extensor strength w as significantly lower measured by HHD compared with FD (p < .01), but knee flexor strength was similar for the two methods. Conclusion: HHD appears to be a reliable method to measure maximal isometric strength in persons with neurogenic weakness, and may be useful to quickly and objectively evaluate strength in the clinical setting. (C) 1997 by th e American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academ y of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.