ABSTRACT
Many professionals use the handheld dynamometers (HHDs) to assess isometric strength. This study aimed to evaluate the validity, reliability, and sensitivity to change of a DiCI (a new HHD) for the strength measurement of knee and hip muscles and their ratios. Thirty-five recreational athletes completed quadriceps, hamstring, and hip adductors and abductors strength tests in two identical sessions with 1-week interval between them. A fatigue test was carried out for the quadriceps and hamstring. Consistency between DiCI and MicroFet2 was excellent (r > 0.939) for all strength tests. Relative reliability analysis showed good to excellent ICCs (ICC’s isolated muscle range = 0.93 to 0.96 and ICC’s ratios range = 0.70 to 0.82). Sensitivity to change showed large change magnitudes for quadriceps and hamstring fatigue (−1.89 and −1.26, respectively). DiCI is valid and reliable to assess knee and hip strength and sensitive to fatigue change.
Disclosure of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest.