Predictors of muscle strength assessed with the modified sphygmomanometer test.

Objectives: To investigate the best predictor of muscle strength assessed with both Modified Sphygmomanometer Test (MST) methods (bag adaptation and non-adapted) and to provide normative values for these two MST methods for the strength assessment of the trunk, upper, and lower limb muscles.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: The strength of 42 muscle groups were assessed with the MST in the bag adaptation and non-adapted methods in 120 healthy individuals, 50 % males, divided into three age groups (20-39, 40-59, 60-79) with 40 subjects per group.

Strength of the lower limb and trunk muscles is associated with gait speed in individuals with sub-acute stroke: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To investigate the association between measures of strength of the lower limb and trunk muscles and gait speed and to identify the muscle group that would best predict gait speed in individuals with sub-acute stroke.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional observational study design, forty-four individuals with sub-acute stroke (62 years, SD=14; 4 months, SD=1 post-stroke) were assessed. The evaluations were performed at a university laboratory, participants' homes, or community-based settings.