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Evaluating patterns of EMG amplitudes for trunk and neck muscles of patients and controls

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International Journal of Rehabilitation and Health

Abstract

We used ratios of EMG amplitudes to characterize neural strategies of motoneuron recruitment for seven bilateral muscle groups of the back and neck during nine motor tasks to discriminate patients who sustained sprain/strain injuries (n=61) from a control population (n=400). Compensatory relationships between muscle pairs improved the predictability of hypoactivity or hyperactivity based on the probability distribution of muscle ratios obtained from uninjured subjects. We defined severity of hypoactive or hyperactive EMG activity by (a) the number of ratios that exceeded the normal range (95% confidence interval), (b) the compensatory relationship between these muscle pairs during each motor task, and (c) the consistency and frequency of hypoactivity or hyperactivity across nine motor tasks. Accuracy of the classification system was 88% with a specificity of 90% and a sensitivity of 70%. Between-session reliability for the overall classification of 40 controls and 44 patients was 93%. These results indicate that muscle ratios can objectively quantify altered strategies of motoneuron recruitment attributed to muscle trauma and pain common to spain/strain injuries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

    V. Reggie Edgerton

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia

    Steven L. Wolf

  3. Myo Diagnostics, Inc., 3710 South Robertson Boulevard, Suite 212, 90232, Culver City, California

    Daniel J. Levendowski

  4. Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

    Roland R. Roy

Authors
  1. V. Reggie Edgerton
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  2. Steven L. Wolf
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  3. Daniel J. Levendowski
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  4. Roland R. Roy
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Edgerton, V.R., Wolf, S.L., Levendowski, D.J. et al. Evaluating patterns of EMG amplitudes for trunk and neck muscles of patients and controls. Int J Rehab Health 2, 1–18 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213560

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