Objective muscle strength assessment can be reliably used in lower and upper extremities in post-stroke patients with chronic hemiparesis.

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Background Stroke represents the largest cause of chronic disability resulting in muscle weakness and instability in the trunk muscles. Despite the reliable measures from isokinetic devices for upper/lower limb muscles, there is a lack of measures for trunk muscles in post-stroke hemiparesis. Objectives To investigate the reliability of the strength and endurance measures from an isokinetic dynamometer for able-bodied and post-stroke hemiparesis people. Methods The measures were taken from both groups (control/hemiparesis) performing antagonistic movements (flexion/extension) during different protocols (seated-compressed and semi-standing) to assess strength (60º/s) and endurance (120º/s). The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and limits of agreement (LOA) defined the quality and magnitude of reliability on the measurements plotted with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) by Bland-Altman method. Results ICC ranged from 0.58 to 0.99, with few ICC values classified as moderate when repeated by raters during test and a single value during retest. The total work was the only variable to present LOA higher than the limits. Conclusion Results indicate acceptable reliability, in two different protocols, confirming the repeatability of the isokinetic measures for trunk muscles in able-bodied and post-stroke hemiparesis.

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Embora seja relatada a ideia de que pessoas com hemiparesia crônica possuem distribuição assimétrica do suporte de peso em pé, algumas evidências também apontam distribuições simétricas nessa população. Esta revisão teve por objetivo levantar pesquisas que investigaram a distribuição do suporte de peso em pé em sujeitos que adquiriram hemiparesia crônica decorrente de acidente vascular encefálico (AVE) identificando qual comportamento de suporte de peso foi descrito pelos autores para essa população. Foram consultadas as bases de dados PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINAHL e SciELO, até outubro de 2015. Das referências selecionadas foram destacadas as informações: (1) medidas de distribuição do suporte de peso; (2) equipamentos utilizados para medir essa distribuição; (3) informações disponíveis sobre as propriedades psicométricas do instrumento utilizado e (4) ideia apresentada sobre o tipo de distribuição no suporte de peso. Dentre as referências encontradas, aquelas que apresentaram dados obtidos a partir de balanças digitais e que permitiam o cálculo de uma razão de simetria foram utilizadas para metanálise. Observou-se na maioria dos estudos, assim como mencionado previamente, que prevaleceu a ideia de que os indivíduos com hemiparesia crônica possuem distribuição assimétrica do suporte de peso com sobrecarga do hemicorpo não parético. No entanto, a heterogeneidade dos estudos, a falta de parâmetros para se definir quais são os limites do que seria simetria no suporte de peso e as poucas informações sobre as propriedades psicométricas dos instrumentos utilizados apontam para necessidade de estudos adicionais. Palavras-chave: Transtornos cerebrovasculares; hemiplegia; equilíbrio postural; suporte de carga; revisão. Although it has been reported that people with chronic hemiparesis present asymmetric distribution of weight in the standing position, some evidences also show symmetric distribution in this population. This review aimed to collect researches investigating weight-bearing distribution in the standing position on patients with hemiparesis after stroke, identifying which weight-bearing behavior has been described by authors for this population. PUBMED, EMBASE, COCHRANE, CINAHL and SCIELO databases were consulted until October 2015. It was highlighted from the selected references the following information: (1) measurements of weight-bearing distribution, (2) devices used to measure this distribution, (3) available information about psychometric properties of the device used and (4) presented concept of weight-bearing distribution. Among the references collected, those presenting data obtained by digital scales and allowing calculation of symmetry ratio were used for meta-analysis. In most of studies, as previous mentioned, prevailed the concept that subjects with chronic hemiparesis have asymmetric distribution overloading non-paretic hemibody. However, the heterogeneity among studies, the lack of parameters to define weight-bearing symmetry and little information about psychometric properties of the device...