Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Dec;30(12):2305-2328.
doi: 10.1111/sms.13805. Epub 2020 Sep 17.

Measurement properties of handheld dynamometry for assessment of shoulder muscle strength: A systematic review

Lotte Sørensen  1   2 , Lisa Gregersen Oestergaard  1   3 , Maurits van Tulder  1   4 , Annemette Krintel Petersen  1   2
Affiliations

Measurement properties of handheld dynamometry for assessment of shoulder muscle strength: A systematic review

Lotte Sørensen et al. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Like any assessment tool, handheld dynamometry (HHD) must be valid and reliable in order to be meaningful in clinical practice and research. To summarize the evidence of measurement properties of HHD for the assessment of shoulder muscle strength. Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, EMBASE, and PEDro were searched up to February 2020. Inclusion criteria were studies (a) evaluating HHD used on the glenohumeral joint, (b) evaluating measurement properties, and (c) included individuals ≥ 18 years old with or without shoulder symptoms. Exclusion criteria were studies (a) including patients with neurologic, neuromuscular, systemic diseases, or critical illness or bed-side patients and (b) that did not report the results separately for each movement. In total, 28 studies with 963 participants were included. The reliability results showed that 98% of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values were ≥0.70. The measurement error showed that the minimal detectable change in percent varied from 0% to 51.0%. The quality of evidence was high or moderate for the majority of movements and type of reliability examined. Based on the evidence of low or very low quality of evidence, the convergent validity and discriminative validity of HHD were either sufficient, indeterminate, or insufficient. The reliability of HHD was overall sufficient, and HHD can be used to distinguish between individuals on the group level. The measurement error was not sufficient, and evaluation of treatment effect on the individual level should be interpreted with caution.

Keywords: handheld dynamometry; measurement error; reliability; shoulder; strength; validity.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Schrama PPM, Stenneberg MS, Lucas C, Van Trijffel E. Intraexaminer reliability of hand‐held dynamometry in the upper extremity: a systematic review. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2014;95(12):2444‐2469.
    1. Rabelo M, Nunes GS, da Costa Amante NM, de Noronha M, Fachin‐Martins E. Reliability of muscle strength assessment in chronic post‐stroke hemiparesis: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Top Stroke Rehabil. 2016;23(1):26‐35.
    1. Chamorro C, Armijo‐Olivo S, De la Fuente C, Fuentes J, Javier Chirosa L. Absolute reliability and concurrent validity of hand held dynamometry and isokinetic dynamometry in the hip, knee and ankle joint: systematic review and meta‐analysis. Open Med. 2017;12(1):359‐375.
    1. Stark T, Walker B, Phillips JK, Fejer R, Beck R. Hand‐held dynamometry correlation with the gold standard isokinetic dynamometry: a systematic review. PM&R. 2011;3(5):472‐479.
    1. Baschung Pfister P, de Bruin ED, Sterkele I, Maurer B, de Bie RA, Knols RH. Manual muscle testing and hand‐held dynamometry in people with inflammatory myopathy: An intra‐ and interrater reliability and validity study. PLoS One. 2018;13(3):e0194531.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources