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Isometric abdominal wall muscle strength assessment in individuals with incisional hernia: a prospective reliability study

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Abstract

Purpose

To determine the reliability of measurements obtained by the Good Strength dynamometer, determining isometric abdominal wall and back muscle strength in patients with ventral incisional hernia (VIH) and healthy volunteers with an intact abdominal wall.

Methods

Ten patients with VIH and ten healthy volunteers with an intact abdominal wall were each examined twice with a 1 week interval. Examination included the assessment of truncal flexion and extension as measured with the Good Strength dynamometer, the completion of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the self-assessment of truncal strength on a visual analogue scale (SATS). The test–retest reliability of truncal flexion and extension was assessed by interclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Bland and Altman graphs. Finally, correlations between truncal strength, and IPAQ and SATS were examined.

Results

Truncal flexion and extension showed excellent test–retest reliability for both patients with VIH (ICC 0.91 and 0.99) and healthy controls (ICC 0.97 and 0.96). Bland and Altman plots showed that no systematic bias was present for neither truncal flexion nor extension when assessing reliability. For patients with VIH, no significant correlations between objective measures of truncal strength and IPAQ or SATS were found. For healthy controls, both truncal flexion (τ 0.58, p = 0.025) and extension (τ 0.58, p = 0.025) correlated significantly with SATS, while no other significant correlation between truncal strength measures and IPAQ was found.

Conclusions

The Good Strength dynamometer provided a reliable, low-cost measure of truncal flexion and extension in patients with VIH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Digestive Disease Center, Bispebjerg Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, 2400, Copenhagen NV, Denmark

    K. K. Jensen & L. N. Jorgensen

  2. Department of Sports Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital and Centre of Healthy Aging, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, 2400, Copenhagen NV, Denmark

    M. Kjaer

  3. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Bispebjerg Hospital and Centre of Healthy Aging, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, 2400, Copenhagen NV, Denmark

    M. Kjaer

Authors
  1. K. K. Jensen
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Correspondence to K. K. Jensen.

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Conflict of interest

KJ declares no conflicts of interest. MK declares no conflicts of interest. LJ declares no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Jensen, K.K., Kjaer, M. & Jorgensen, L.N. Isometric abdominal wall muscle strength assessment in individuals with incisional hernia: a prospective reliability study. Hernia 20, 831–837 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10029-016-1497-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10029-016-1497-3

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