Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39827136›Full record

ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2025

Responsiveness of hand-held dynamometry for measuring changes in trunk muscle strength in people with chronic low back pain.

Shouq Althobaiti, Janet A Deane, Deborah Falla

Abstract read
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Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Shouq AlthobaitiCentre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain (CPR Spine), School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Janet A DeaneCentre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain (CPR Spine), School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Deborah FallaCentre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain (CPR Spine), School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. d.falla@bham.ac.uk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo assess the responsiveness of a hand-held dynamometer (HHD) in evaluating changes in trunk isometric strength in people with chronic low back pain (LBP).

backgroundReduced trunk muscle strength has been associated with pain incidence and severity in people with chronic LBP. Trunk muscle strength is an important functional outcome that is measured in clinical practice and research. However, the responsiveness of clinical tools such as HHD for measuring changes in trunk muscle strength remains underexplored.

methodsMaximum isometric trunk strength was measured using both a HHD and an isokinetic dynamometer (ID) in 21 participants with chronic LBP both before and after 6 weeks of progressive trunk resistance exercises. Effect sizes (ES) and standardised response mean (SRM) were used to evaluate the internal responsiveness of the HHD measures. External responsiveness was determined by correlating the change scores measured with the HHD with those obtained using the ID.

resultsFollowing the progressive resistance exercise programme, there was a significant improvement in trunk muscle strength measured with the HHD with moderate to large ES (0.40-0.85) and SRM (0.60- 0.74), indicating moderate to high internal responsiveness. Pearson's correlations revealed a weak correlation between changes in trunk strength measured with the HHD and those measured with the ID (r = 0.22- 0.26), indicating inadequate external responsiveness.

conclusionsAlthough the use of a HHD was shown to have internal responsiveness for detecting changes in trunk muscle strength, the inadequate external responsiveness warrants further investigation. Future research should also explore the responsiveness of HHD in people with chronic LBP with higher pain and disability levels using comparable measurement setups.

Indexed as

Chronic PainLow Back PainMuscle, SkeletalMuscle StrengthMuscle Strength DynamometerTorsoAdultFemaleHumansIsometric ContractionMaleMiddle AgedPain MeasurementResistance TrainingTreatment OutcomeChronic low back painHand-held dynamometerPerformance-based outcome measuresResponsivenessTrunk isometric strength

Identifiers

PMID39827136
PMCPMC11742789

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.