The relevance of trunk evaluation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: the segmental assessment of trunk control

• Published in: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria Vol. 74; no. 10; pp. 791 - 795
• Main Authors: Sá, Cristina dos Santos Cardoso de, Fagundes, Iara Kristine, Araújo, Talita Bastos, Oliveira, Acary Souza Bulle, Fávero, Francis Meire
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rua do Matoso 170, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20270-135, Brazil Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda 01-10-2016; Academia Brasileira de Neurologia - ABNEURO; Academia Brasileira de Neurologia (ABNEURO)
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adolescent; Adult; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disability Evaluation; Disease Progression; evaluation; Humans; Muscle Weakness - physiopathology; muscular dystrophy, Duchenne; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne - physiopathology; NEUROSCIENCES; Observer Variation; physical therapy specialty; Postural Balance - physiology; PSYCHIATRY; Reference Values; Reproducibility of Results; Torso - physiopathology; Young Adult; evaluation; muscular dystrophy, Duchenne; avaliação; fisioterapia; physical therapy specialty; distrofia muscular de Duchenne
• ISSN: 0004-282X; 1678-4227; 1678-4227; 0004-282X
• DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20160124

ABSTRACT
The aim was to describe trunk control in ambulant and non-ambulant patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a sample of 50 DMD patients, (
M
age = 16.7 years) who underwent the Segmental Assessment of Trunk Control (SATCo). A seven-level scale of trunk control was used (1: head control only; 7: control of entire trunk while unsupported). Static, active and reactive posture control were evaluated in ambulant and non-ambulant patients. Inter-rater reliability for all assessments was evaluated by calculating the kappa coefficient. More advanced disease (having higher Vignos scores), was associated with poorer trunk control. Ambulant patients showed better trunk control than non-ambulant patients (p = 0.003). There was strong inter-rater agreement for SATCo scale scores.