Neurophysiological comparison between the Sit-to-Stand test with the 6-Minute Walk test in individuals with COPD.

OBJECTIVES: The Sit-to-Stand test (SST) is accepted and utilized during functional assessments of COPD patients, along with the 6-Minute Walk test (6MWT). Since there is a lack of evidence in literature regarding the neurophysiological effectiveness of SST compared to 6MWT, the present study is justified with the purpose of assessing the neurophysiological effectiveness of SST in comparison to the 6MWT during the functional assessment of such patients, once it is known that both tests are good predictors of functional state. METHODS: Fourteen patients with moderate to severe COPD randomly performed the 6MWT and the SST with a 30-minute interval in between tests. Blood lactate was collected along with the median frequency (MDF), obtained with the electromyography of the muscles rectusfemoris (RF), vastus lateralis (VL), tibialis anterior (TA), and soleus (SO) for the comparison of the neurophysiological effectiveness. RESULTS: The results of the blood lactate concentration during rest and at the end of the functional tasks along with the results from the angular coefficient (AC) obtained from the median frequency were analyzed with the Student t test. The initial and final values obtained from SST and 6MWT were compared within each activity, along with the comparison between the initial and final values for each functional test. A significant difference (p = 0.0005) was only verified between the initial and final values of SST. CONCLUSION: We found neurophysiological correlation between both tests which enabled us to suggest that SST may determine functional status as easily as the 6MWT in regard to neurophysiological effectiveness.

Functional implication of gait after left or right-sided stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify and compare parameters of muscle electrical activity and ground reaction force of lower limb during gait in post-stroke patients with left or right side functional involvement. METHOD: Fifteen post-stroke volunteers with left side functional involvement were age, gender and weight matched and compared to fifteen post-stroke volunteers with right side functional involvement. Comparison was executed by means of electromyography with four pairs of surface electrodes positioned on the affected side (spastic side), on the muscles rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, soleus, and medial portion of the hamstrings, and with a ground reaction force plate. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference on electromyographic activity of analyzed muscles (p = 0.6), nor on the analysis of ground reaction vertical forces, stride duration, weight bearing index, gait velocity, cadence and stride length (p = 0.53). CONCLUSION: According to the electromyographic parameters and to the ground reaction force during gait among the post-stroke volunteers with right or left side involvement; we could suggest that functional rehabilitation presented no differences for these individuals.

Electromyographic and neuromuscular analysis in patients with post-polio syndrome.

Proceed to a comparative analysis of the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the muscles rectus femoris, vastus medialis and vastus lateralis, and to assess muscle strength and fatigue after maximal isometric contraction during knee extension. Eighteen patients with post-polio syndrome, age and weight matched, were utilized in this study. The signal acquisition system utilized consisted of three pairs of surface electrodes positioned on the motor point of the analyzed muscles. It was possible to observe with the results of this study a decreased endurance on initial muscle contraction and during contraction after 15 minutes of the initial maximal voluntary contraction, along with a muscle fatigue that was assessed through linear regression executed with Pearson's test. There were significant differences among the comparative analysis of EMG activity of the muscles rectus femoris, vastus medialis and vastus lateralis after maximal isometric contraction during knee extension. Initial muscle contraction and contraction after a 15 minute-rest from initial contraction decreased considerably, indicating a decreased endurance on muscle contraction, concluding that a lower limb muscle fatigue was present on the analyzed PPS patients.