Assessment of a portable device for the quantitative measurement of ankle joint @entity2693 in XXXX individuals.

@entity35125 @entity1 @entity75 @entity16 @entity508 @entity15 @entity2693
OBJECTIVE: Spasticity is a common complication with @entity16 and @entity75 . Instrumented systems to evaluate @entity508 often cannot provide an immediate result, thus limiting their clinical usefulness. In this study we investigated the accuracy and reliability of the portable Neurokinetics @entity35125 Ridgidity Analyzer to measure @entity2693 of the ankle joint in 46 controls, 14 spinal cord injured (SCI) and 23 @entity15 ( @entity15 ) @entity1 . METHODS: Ankle @entity2693 measures were made twice by two raters, at speeds above and below the expected stretch reflex threshold. Ankle torque was measured with the portable device and a stationary torque motor. Inter- and intra-rater reliability was assessed with the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: Stiffness measures with the portable and stationary devices were significantly correlated for controls and @entity15 @entity1 (p < 0.01). Intra-rater reliability for the portable device ranged from 0.60-0.89 (SCI) and 0.63-0.67 (control) and inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.70-0.73 (SCI) and 0.61-0.77 (control). Ankle @entity2693 measures in SCI and @entity15 @entity1 were significantly larger than in controls for both slow (p < 0.05) and fast movements (p < 0.01), with @entity2693 being larger for fast compared to slow movements in SCI and @entity15 @entity1 (p < 0.05), but not in controls (p = 0.5). CONCLUSION: The portable device correlated well with measures obtained by a torque motor in both controls and @entity15 @entity1 , showed high intra- and inter-rater reliability for the SCI @entity1 , and could easily distinguish between stiff and control ankle joints. However, the device, in its current form, may be less accurate during rapid movements when inertia contributes to @entity2693 and the shape of the air-filled pads did not provide a good interface with the foot. SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates that a portable device can potentially be a useful diagnostic tool to obtain reliable information of @entity2693 for the ankle joint.
