Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Patients With Axial Spondyloarthritis Show an Altered Flexion/Relaxation Phenomenon

I. Concepción Aranda-Valera
,
Juan Luis Garrido-Castro
* ORCID logo ,
Alfonso Martinez-Galisteo
,
Jose Peña-Amaro
,
Cristina Gonzalez-Navas
,
Antonio Cuesta-Vargas
ORCID logo ,
Luis Jimenez-Reina
,
Eduardo Collantes-Estévez
,
Clementina Lopez-Medina
ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 8 April 2021 / Approved: 12 April 2021 / Online: 12 April 2021 (11:48:16 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Aranda-Valera, I.C.; Garrido-Castro, J.L.; Martínez-Galisteo, A.; Peña-Amaro, J.; González-Navas, C.; Cuesta-Vargas, A.; Jiménez-Reina, L.; Collantes-Estévez, E.; López-Medina, C. Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis Show an Altered Flexion/Relaxation Phenomenon. Diagnostics 2021, 11, 810. Aranda-Valera, I.C.; Garrido-Castro, J.L.; Martínez-Galisteo, A.; Peña-Amaro, J.; González-Navas, C.; Cuesta-Vargas, A.; Jiménez-Reina, L.; Collantes-Estévez, E.; López-Medina, C. Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis Show an Altered Flexion/Relaxation Phenomenon. Diagnostics 2021, 11, 810.

Abstract

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic rheumatic disease characterised by the presence of inflammatory back pain. In patients with chronic low back pain, the lumbar flexion relaxation phenomenon measured by surface electromiography (sEMG) differs from that in healthy individuals. However, sEMG activity in axSpA patients has not been studied. The purpose of this study was to analyse the flexion relaxation phenomenon in axSpA patients. A study evaluating 39 axSpA patients and 35 healthy controls was conducted. sEMG activity at the erector spinae muscles was measured during lumbar full flexion movements. sEMG activity was compared between axSpA patients and the controls, as well as between active (BASDAI≥4) and non-active (BASDAI<4) patients. The reliability (using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC)), criterion validity and discriminant validity using the area Under the curve (AUC) for the inverse flexion/relaxation ratio (1/FRR) were evaluated. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between axSpA patients and the control group in lumbar electric activity, especially during flexion, relaxation and extension and in FRR and 1/FRR (0.66±0.39 vs. 0.25±0.19, respectively). In addition, significant differences were found between active and non-active but also between non-active and healthy subjects. The sEMG showed good reliability (ICC>0.8 for 1/FRR) and criterion validity. ROC analysis showed good discriminant validity for axSpA patients (AUC=0.835) vs. the control group using 1/FRR. An abnormal flexion/relaxation phenomenon exists in axSpA patients compared with controls. sEMG could be an additional objective tool in the evaluation of patient function and disease activity status.

Keywords

Axial Spondyloarthritis; surface electromyography (sEMG); flexion relaxation ratio; functional assessment; clinimetric properties.

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Immunology and Allergy

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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