Work - Volume 24, issue 1

Authors: Landis, Jamie | Keselman, Inna | Murphy, Catherine N.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background and purpose: This was a descriptive and exploratory study of electromyographic (EMG) activity of wrist extensor musculature specific to the extensor digitorum (ED), extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) and flexor carpi radialis (FCR) in individuals with a medical diagnosis of the common work associated complaint of lateral epicondylitis (LE). The purpose was to evaluate and compare the EMG activity of the selected forearm muscles during three different types of resistive (strengthening) therapeutic exercises (rubber …ball, theraputty, and "make-it-disappear" (MID) sponge) in participants with LE. Participants: Five individuals between the ages of 44 and 55 years of age diagnosed with lateral epicondylitis by a physician were recruited on a voluntary basis from a local outpatient clinic. Methods: The participants completed 1 min. of each of the resistive exercises, which were assigned randomly. Muscle activity was collected simultaneously by 3 surface electrodes (4/18/16 DE -2.3 silver surface EMG electrodes, Delsys Inc, Boston, MA) and recorded on an EMG Myomonitor-4 (Delsys Inc, Boston, MA) utilizing EmgCE software (Delsys Inc, Boston, MA). The raw EMG signal was converted to a root mean square (RMS) at each 0.0625 second interval during the full 60 second recording using EMGWorks, (Delsys, Inc, Boston, MA). The data were pooled, and the mean RMS was then determined as an overall measure of activity for each muscle during the 60 recording. Results: A 1-way ANOVA with Tukey's post-test was completed using Prizm Software (Graph Pad Software, Inc, San Diego, CA) for a comparison of the mean RMS values of each muscle during each activity. Statistically significant between group differences were noted for all muscles, among all exercises. Relative activity was noted to be greatest for ED and FCR during MID exercise, and for ECRB during putty exercise. Conclusion: All three exercises represent different patterns of muscle activity, for the muscles observed. The possible differences in the recorded activity may be consequent to the specific positioning and movement requirements involved in the performance of the distinct exercises. Practitioners may find the evidence of this study helpful in designing rehabilitation programs for those affected with lateral epicondylitis. Show more

Keywords: lateral epicondylitis, electromyography, EMG, rehabilitation

Citation: Work, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 85-91, 2005

Authors: Cook, Bryan G. | Rumrill, Jr., Phillip D.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Researchers in rehabilitation counseling and disability studies sometimes use analogue research, which involves materials that approximate or describe reality (e.g., written vignettes, videotaped exemplars) rather than investigating phenomena in real-world settings. Analogue research often utilizes experimental designs, and it thereby frequently possesses a high degree of internal validity. Analogue research allows investigators to exercise tight control over the implementation of the independent or treatment variable and over potentially confounding variables, which enables …them to isolate the effects of those treatment variables on selected outcome measures. However, the simulated nature of analogue research presents an important threat to external validity. As such, the generalizability of analogue research to real-life settings and situations may be problematic. These and other issues germane to analogue research in vocational rehabilitation are discussed in this article, illustrated with examples from the contemporary literature. Show more

Keywords: research design, analogue research

Citation: Work, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 93-97, 2005