Article

Manual muscle testing (MMT),
the trapezius muscle is an important part of the
examination in patients with upper extremity dysfunction or pain. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a new MMT
that assesses the entire trapezius muscle instead of the usual method of
separating it into three different parts. The new trapezius MMT is similar to the
serratus anterior muscle test; however, the testing is performed in the frontal
versus sagittal plane. METHODS: A convenience sample of 11 subjects was recruited
with no known shoulder pathology. Surface electromyography electrodes were placed
on the upper, middle, and lower trapezius fibers according to a previously
validated method and MMTs for the three different trapezius muscle test positions
were normalized against the new trapezius test position. RESULTS: The new
trapezius MMT showed very high maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC;
160.80%) for the upper trapezius muscle, high for the middle trapezius muscle
(59.23%), and high for the lower trapezius muscle (47.54%) when normalized
against the MVICs for each individual trapezius muscle tests. CONCLUSIONS: A new
MMT that assesses the whole trapezius in its role as an upward scapular rotator
was found to be reliable and valid.

Langue : ANGLAIS