A simple method for quantitative assessment of elbow flexion strength

Abstract

Assessment of elbow flexion strength is an important component of upper limb neurological examination and is necessary for patient screening, planning of surgical interventions and rehabilitation. Medical Research Council (MRC) Scale is the most widely used method for grading muscle strength. The major drawback of MRC grading is that it is observer dependent and imprecise. A quantitative measure of elbow flexion strength is an objective measure that eliminates such bias. Several instruments have been developed for quantifying the elbow flexion power. However, availability, quality and measuring standards vary widely between these instruments most being cumbersome and expensive. We report the design of an instrument that is simple and cost effective for quantifying elbow flexion strength objectively. The validity of elbow flexion strength obtained from normal participants using this in-house instrument supports its clinical use in patients with brachial plexus injury.

Keywords:

• Elbow flexion strength
• joint torque
• quantitative assessment
• MRC grading
• brachial plexus injury

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Suresh R. Devasahayam, for his invaluable feedback, support and discussion in regard to the research presented in this paper. We would also like to thank the Institutional Fluid Research Grant for supporting this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.