ArticleJournal of rehabilitation medicine2022
Does the Duncan-Ely test predict abnormal activity of the rectus femoris in stroke survivors with a stiff knee gait?
Article in Journal of rehabilitation medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Stiff Knee Gait After Stroke: The Potential Compensatory Role of Mid-Swing Rectus Femoris Activity.Case reports in neurological medicine · 2025Article
- Anatomical landmarks for ultrasound-guided rectus femoris diagnostic nerve block in post-stroke spasticity.Australasian journal of ultrasound in medicine · 2023Article
- Classification of Stiff-Knee Gait Kinematic Severity after Stroke Using Retrospective k-Means Clustering Algorithm.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Comments on: Does the Duncan-Ely Test Predict Abnormal Activity of the Rectus Femoris in Stroke Survivors with a Stiff Knee Gait?Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine the diagnostic value of the Duncan-Ely test in predicting abnormal rectus femoris activity during gait in stroke survivors walking with a stiff knee gait.
designCross-sectional diagnostic study. SUBJECTS: A total of 95 patients with chronic stroke.
methodsDuring physical examination, the Duncan-Ely test was performed and scored. Surface electromyography of the rectus femoris was then recorded during dynamic gait. To determine the diagnostic value, the results of the Duncan-Ely test and surface electromyography recordings (gold standard) were compared.
resultsThe Duncan-Ely test had a sensitivity of 73%, a specificity of 29%, a positive predictive value of 60%, and a negative predictive value of 42%. The area under the curve was 0.488 ([AQ1] CI 0.355-0.621, p = 0.862), showing that the Duncan-Ely test is not better than random guessing.
conclusionThe Duncan-Ely test has no predictive value for determining abnormal activity of the rectus femoris during gait. Using this test can lead to incorrect identification of abnormal rectus femoris activity, which might hamper the selection of optimal treatment options. We recommend stopping use of the Duncan-Ely test to predict rectus femoris overactivity during swing, and instead use surface electromyography.
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