Correlations Among Objective Measurements of Spasticity in Patients With Brain Lesions

The purpose of this study was to investigate correlations among objective measurements of spasticity in patients with brain lesions. Thirty-two stroke and traumatic brain injury subjects participated in the study. Spasticity was quantified using the knee first flexion angle, relaxation index obtained from a pen-dulum drop test, and the amplitude of a knee tendon reflex test. Pearson's product correlation coefficient was used to examine relationships among these measurements of spasticity. There was a significant pos-itive correlation between the relaxation index and knee first flexion angle in patients with brain lesions (r=.895, p<.01). There was also significant negative correlation between the amplitude of Knee tendon re-flex and relaxation index (r=-.612, p<.01), and between amplitude and knee first flexion angle (r=-.537, p<.01). Thus, it is possible to use the knee first flexion angle as an objective measure of spasticity, rath-er than relaxation index, which is more complicated to obtain. Further studies are needed to explore the effects of functional improvement and long-lasting carryover effects of spasticity using a simple objective measure such as the knee first flexion angle from a pendulum test.