Reliability of EMG activity in complete denture users during simulation of activities of daily living

• Published in: Revista odonto ciência 2010, Vol.25 (1), p.42-47
• Main Authors: Baldisserotto, Simone Michielon, Trindade, Dúcia Caldas Cosme da, Loss, Jefferson Fagundes, Shinkai, Rosemary Sadami Arai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE
• ISSN: 1980-6523; 0102-9460; 1980-6523
• DOI: 10.1590/S1980-65232010000100009

Purpose: To describe a kinesiologic EMG method and determine the reliability of EMG activity of representative muscles of mastication (temporal, masseter), posture of neck (sternocleidomastoid, trapezius) and trunk (rectus abdominis, paravertebral), and lower extremity strength (rectus femoris, medial gastrocnemius) during simulation of activities of daily living. Methods: Ten edentulous healthy women (age: 58.2±5.6 yr old) were tested with and without their dentures. EMG signals were recorded for each subject during three trials of each kinesiologic test: to stand up/sit down on a chair (TC), to rise/lie down in the bed (TB), and to lift/lower bags (TW). The same-day reprodutibility of the EMG values was estimated by test-retest reliability analyses. For each test (TC, TB, and TW) the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and 95% confidence interval were estimated stratified by muscle, presence or not of complete dentures, and movement during the test (up and down) considering the three repetitions per subject to assess consistency. Results: All muscles showed activation during the tests. The method yielded moderate to high ICCs; the highest test-retest reliability levels were estimated for the sternocleidomastoid (0.82-0.97) and paravertebral (0.86-0.99) muscles. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the described kinesiologic EMG method showed satisfactory reliability in this sample.