Comparison of the effects of remote aftereffects of static contractions for different upper-extremity positions and pinch-force strengths in patients with restricted wrist flexion range of motion

The objective of the study was to examine the aftereffects of static contractions of upper extremity muscles in different shoulder joint positions and at different pinch-force strengths on the maximal active range of motion (MAROM) and wrist agonist/antagonist IEMG activities for patients with restricted wrist flexion range of motion (ROM) due to upper limb pain and dysfunction. The subjects were 10 outpatients (3 males, 7 females) with restricted wrist joints. These subjects performed four static contractions of upper extremity muscles in neutral and diagonal shoulder joint positions and with weak and strong pinch-force strengths in random order. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the change in MAROM was significantly larger (P < 0.05) after diagonal-strong static contractions than after neutral-weak static contractions. There were no significant correlations between changes in MAROM and IEMG activities. These results indicate that shoulder joint position and pinch-force strength should be considered for effective induction of remote aftereffects of static contractions for increasing MAROM for restricted wrist flexion ROM.journal articl