"Reliability of hand-held dynamometry and its relationship with manual muscle testing in patients with osteoarthritis in the knee" by Hayes, PhD and Falconer, PhD, was published in JOSPT, volume 16, number 3, September, 1992. The reliability of hand-held dynamometers (HHD) has been investigated to provide further understanding of its use for muscle testing. This article critique points out the study's strengths and limitations.
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the reliability of the hand-held dynamometer with a comparison of data gathered with HHD and manual muscle tests (MMT). The authors point out that this relationship has been previously assessed only with healthy subjects and neuromuscular disorder patients. This study assessed a homogeneous group of patients with orthopaedic problems.
The authors first note the importance of accurate determination of patient muscle strength. Patients with osteoarthritis (OA) are tested for muscle strength for treatment planning and progress monitoring. A frequently used measure is isokinetic dynamometry, a costly method requiring heavy and stationary equipment. MMT and HHD are inexpensive, portable, and easy to perform. Previous studies are referred to with regard to the reliability testing of HHD with healthy subjects and those with neuromuscular disorders. It is stated that healthy subjects do not provide adequate strength ranges of measurements that can be generalized to patient populations. The methodology for this study is therefore concluded, that HHD measurements of specific patient populations (orthopaedic problems) is appropriate for tests of HHD reliability.
The purposes of this study were stated as: "1) to determine the intratester reliability and standard error of measurement of HHD measurements with patients with OA and 2) to compare HHD measurements with grades from a MMT" (p. 145). It was hypothesized that reliability would be adequate (greater ...