Clinical muscle strength measurements: reference values and reliability

Clinical muscle strength measurements: reference values and reliabilityIn this thesis reference values for muscle strength were determined and reliability of muscle strength measurements were for adults, children and patient groups. Reference values found for adults were generally lower than those from the United States. For children, all values were found to be higher than those for Chilean children, but lower than those for children from previous Dutch research.In addition, reliability of a new mobile muscle strength measurement instrument, the Q-force, was analyzed. Reliability was good however with apparently substantial intra-individual variation. In older adults, was analyzed what the effect was, on the precision, of multiple measurements execute on different measurement days. No effect of multiple measurements or multiple days was found. This indicates that one measurement is sufficient. There was also substantial intra-individual variation present in this study.Finally, it was analyzed whether muscle strength can be reliably measured in individuals with severe intellectual and visual impairment. Muscle strength could also be reliably measured in this individuals, however a long learning period, of 4 weeks was observed. There was also substantial intra-individual variation present in this study