The relationship between isokinetic muscle strength and spasticity in the lower limbs of stroke patients.
OBJECTIVE
In this study the relationship between degree of spasticity and strength of knee extensor and ankle plantar flexor muscles of post stroke hemiparetic patients has been investigated.


MATERIALS & METHODS
The participants of this study were 40 stroke patients whose elapsed time of stroke onset was at least 3 months. Their age averaged 59 years. Spasticity was measured with the Modified Ashworth Scale. Isokinetic muscle strength was measured with an isokinetic dynamometer. Two methods of torque normalization - subtractive and weight based normalization - were used for comparing torques among participants.


RESULTS
Kendall's tau-b coefficient was calculated for investigating this relationship. This coefficient was not significant for the relationship between weight based normalized data and modified Ashworth scale (MAS) in any of each muscle groups (α = 0.05). This coefficient was significant for the relationship between the subtractive normalization method and MAS in knee extensors (P = 0.005, α = 0.01) and ankle plantar flexors (P = 0.002, α = 0.01).


CONCLUSION
This study suggests a negative relationship between spasticity and muscle strength and provided evidence that spastic muscles are weaker.
['Abdollahi|I|I|', 'Taghizadeh|A|A|', 'Shakeri|H|H|', 'Eivazi|M|M|', 'Jaberzadeh|S|S|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000842:Ankle D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007717:Knee D035002:Lower Extremity D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009128:Muscle Spasticity D053580:Muscle Strength D053581:Muscle Strength Dynamometer D018482:Muscle, Skeletal D010291:Paresis D011446:Prospective Studies D015203:Reproducibility of Results D020521:Stroke
Isokinetic Muscle strength Spasticity Stroke