Reliability of the hand held dynamometer in measuring muscle strength in people with interstitial lung disease. Issue 3 (September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dowman, Leona; McDonald, Christine F.; Hill, Catherine J.; Lee, Annemarie; Barker, Kathryn; Boote, Claire; Glaspole, Ian; Goh, Nicole; Southcott, Annemarie; Burge, Angela; Ndongo, Rebecca; Martin, Alicia; Holland, Anne E.
• Is Part Of: Physiotherapy. Volume 102:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 249
• Page End: 255
• Publication Date: 2016-09
• Subjects: Interstitial lung diseases -- Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis -- Muscle strength -- Muscle strength dynamometer -- Reliability and validity; Physical therapy -- Periodicals; Therapeutics, Physiological -- Periodicals; 615.8205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physio.2015.10.002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0031-9406

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the hand held dynamometer in measuring muscle strength in people with interstitial lung disease (ILD). Design: Test retest reliability of hand-held dynamometry for elbow flexor and knee extensor strength between two independent raters and two testing sessions. Setting: Physiotherapy department within a tertiary hospital. Participants: Thirty participants with ILD of varying aetiology were included. Twenty participants completed the inter-rater reliability protocol (10 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, mean (SD) age 73 (10) years, 11 male) and 21 participants completed the intra-rater reliability protocol (10 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, mean age 71 (10) years, 11 male). Main outcome measures: Mean muscle strength (kg). Agreement between the two raters and testing sessions was analyzed using Bland–Altman plots and reliability was estimated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Results: For elbow flexor strength there was a mean difference between raters of −0.6 kg (limits of agreement (LOA) −5.6 to 4.4 kg) and within raters of −0.3 kg (LOA −2.8 to 2.3 kg). The ICCs were 0.95 and 0.98, respectively. For knee extensor strength there was a mean difference between raters of −1.5 kg (LOA −6.9 to 3.9 kg) and within raters of −0.7 kg (LOA −3.9 to 2.4 kg). The ICCs were 0.95 and 0.97, respectively. Conclusions: Hand-held dynamometry is reliable in measuring elbow flexor and knee extensor strength in people with ILD.