Clinical Assessment of Trunk Flexor Muscle Strength in Healthy Girls ...

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Fig. 2. Good (Grade 4) muscle test position. trunk, as determined by palpation. 2 A Zero muscle test grade was given to a subject if no abdominal muscle activity could be palpated. Each subject was allowed a maximum of three trials to complete the test for each muscle grade. We assigned a muscle test grade after the first successful trial of each muscle test. Muscle tests were administered and graded for each child by the researchers. We conducted a pilot study (N = 7) that established interrater reliability at 100 percent. Procedure Each child removed her shirt. The child stood in relaxed stance with her arms at her sides while we centered the reference marker over the designated spinous process. We positioned each child in supine on the mat with the hips flexed to 90 degrees and the knees placed across the board in approximately 120 degrees of flexion. We assessed each child's ability to perform neck flexion through full range of motion in the supine position because this movement is used for the initiation of trunk flexion. Then one researcher demonstrated to each subject the Fair trunk flexor muscle test procedure. The child was allowed to practice the movement once. Each child had three trials in which to complete the test successfully in the Fair muscle test position. We gave a 30-second rest period between all trials. After the first successfully completed trial in the Fair test position, we demonstrated the Good muscle test to the child and allowed one practice trial. If the subject could complete the Good muscle test in one of the three trials, we demonstrated the Normal muscle test procedure for the subject to practice and attempt. If the child could not pass the Fair muscle test, we tested the child according to the Poor, Trace, and Zero test procedures and assigned a grade according to level of test achievement. Data Analysis We assigned numerical values (0-5) to the muscle grades for statistical analysis. We believed the assignment of numerical values to ordinal data was appropriate for the statistical analysis of this study because 1) numerical values allowed the use of more flexible and powerful parametric tests and 2) the RESEARCH assignment of any numerical scale to such data seldom produces marked differences in the conclusions drawn from the analysis. 21 We performed a Pearson product-moment correlation to determine the relationship of the variables height, weight, and age to muscle grade, and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine if significant differences existed among the mean muscle grades of each age group. We also performed a stepwise multiple regression analysis for the same variables. RESULTS Table 1 records means and standard deviations for muscle grade, age (in months), height, and weight by age group (in years). As shown in Table 1, the mean muscle grade of 3- and 4-year-old subjects was in the Fair range (3.3 and 3.7) and that of 5- and 6-year-old subjects was in the Good range (4.1 and 4.4). Seven-year-old girls had a mean muscle grade close to Normal (4.8) strength. Fig. 3. Fair (Grade 3) muscle test position. Fig. 4. Poor (Grade 2) muscle test position. Volume 64 / Number 8, August 1984 1205 Downloaded from http://ptjournal.apta.org/ by guest on March 25, 2013
TABLE 1 Means and Standard Deviations of Variables by Age Group Variable Age (mo) Height (in) Weight (lb) Muscle grade 3 (n = 15) s 41.1 3.4 39.2 1.4 32.6 3.5 3.3 1.0 4 (n = 15) s 54.5 2.5 42.9 1.7 37.5 4.3 3.7 1.1 Age Group (yr) 5 (n = 15) s 65.3 3.1 45.0 2.2 42.1 5.9 4.1 1.2 6 (n = 15) s 77.7 3.4 47.2 1.7 47.0 3.7 4.4 0.9 7 (n = 15) s 89.1 2.7 49.9 1.3 53.8 5.7 4.8 0.6 TABLE 2 Pearson Product-Moment Correlations for Age, Height, Weight, and Muscle Grade Variable Age with height Age with weight Height with weight Age with muscle grade Weight with muscle grade Height with muscle grade a p
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Clinical Assessment of Trunk Flexor Muscle Strength in Healthy Girls ...

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