Medical Hydrology and Balneology: Environmental Aspects

A comparison land-water environment of
maximal voluntary isometric contraccion
during manual muscle testing
Castillo R (1) , Cuesta A (2)
(1) Patronato Municipal de Deportes. Málaga, Spain
(2) Department of Psychiatry and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences,
University of Malaga
romu_castillo@hotmail.com
Introduction and Objectives
The aim of this study was to compare the degree of reproducibility and validation
using surface electromyography (sEMG) of the maximum voluntary contraction
(MVC) on land and in water for standardization in abslutos values (%).
Materials and Methods
Sixteen right-handed healthy subjects (8 males and 8 females) participated in the
measurement of muscle activation of the right shoulder. The muscles selected were:
Erector spinal neck, trapezius, supraspinatus, pectoralis, anterior deltoid, middle
deltoid, infraspinatus and latissimus dorsi. The test conditions wererandom MVC
regarding the order of measurement on land and in water. All this todetermine
differences in muscle activation in both conditions.
Results
After analyzing the results using the test T-Student or test Wilconxon as normality
of the variables, we note that for all muscles except the supraspinatus (p = .003)
and latissimus dorsi (p = .001), not statistically significant differences between the
scores on land and in water in the test MVC test.
Conclusions
As the conditions of manual muscle test (MMT) of the testare comparable in the
test MVC sEMG on land and in water, as the integrity of the sEMG records were
kept. Also the stability of the evaluator and the evaluated mediated by gravity can
hinder education by testing resistance to the MMT in the test MVC in water.
Keywords: Surface Electromyography, Aquatic Exercise, Rehabilitation, Isometrics
Balnea
2012, núm. 6, 356
356
ISBN: 978-84-669-1887-0
978-84-669-3482-4