Sensory Integration for Postural Control in Rheumatoid Arthritis Revealed by Computerized Dynamic Posturography.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that impairs mobility. How does sensory information influence postural responses in people with RA? The aim of this study was to evaluate the postural control of people with RA during a sensory organization test, comparing how sensory information influences postural responses in people with rheumatoid arthritis compared with healthy people. Participants were 28 women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA group) and 16 women without any rheumatoid disease (Control group CG). The Sensory Organization Test (SOT) was performed on a Smart Balance Master® (NeuroCom International, Inc., Clackamas, OR, USA) and center of pressure (COP) was measured. SOT conditions: SOT1 (eyes open, fixed support surface and surround; SOT2) eyes closed, fixed support surface and surround; and SOT5) eyes closed, sway-referenced support surface, and fixed surround. To compare the demographic and clinical aspects between groups, independent t-test or Mann-Whitney's U-test were used. Differences were found between groups. Between SOT conditions, for CG and RA, COP was faster for SOT-5 than SOT-1, while SOT-1 and SOT-2 presented similar COP velocity. For SOT-2 and SOT-5, COP was larger for the RA group. For both groups, SOT-1 presented the smallest COP, and SOT-5 showed the largest COP.

Estudo comparativo da força de preensão isométrica máxima em diferentes modalidades esportivas / Comparative study of maximum isometric grip strength in different sports

O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar a força de preensão isométrica máxima (Fmax) entre diferentes esportes e entre mão dominante (FmaxD) e não dominante (FmaxND). Participaram do estudo 29 atletas (homens) das modalidades de aikidô (AI), jiu-jitsu (JJ), judô (JU) e remo (RE) e 21 não atletas (NA). O teste de preensão consistiu na manutenção da força isométrica máxima em um dinamômetro de preensão manual durante10 s. O posicionamento dos sujeitos foi o sugerido pela Sociedade Americana de Terapia da Mão (ASHT). Para análise dos dados, utilizou-se o teste ANOVA fatorial 2X5 com correção de Bonferroni, seguido dos testes t pareado e de Tukey. Foi verificado que existem maioresvalores de Fmax quando o esporte praticado é JJ e quando usam a mão dominante, seguido dos grupos de JU, RE, AI e NA. Foi detectado que 30,9% da variação da Fmax pode ser atribuída à dominância das mãos, 39,9% às diferenças entre as modalidades esportivas e 21,3% à interação entre a dominância de mãos e grupo de indivíduos. Os resultados dopresente estudo permitiram verificar diferenças significativas na Fmax somente entre os grupos de JJ e AI, e JJ e NA, tanto na mão dominante quanto na não-dominante, e entre mão dominante e não dominante somente nos grupos de AI e NA. Os resultados deste estudo indicam que a Fmax pode ser empregada para comparação entre diferentes modalidadesesportivas, e entre mão dominante e não dominante. Estudos com maior número de indivíduos permitirão identificar diferenças entre outras modalidades.

The objective of this study was to compare maximum isometric grip strength (Fmax) between different sports and between the dominant (FmaxD) and non-dominant (FmaxND) hand. Twenty-nine male aikido (AI), jiujitsu (JJ), judo (JU) and rowing (RO) athletes and 21 non-athletes (NA) participated in the study. The hand strength test consisted of maintainingmaximum isometric grip strength for 10 seconds using a hand dynamometer. The position of the subjects was that suggested by the American Society of Hand Therapy. Factorial 2X5 ANOVA with Bonferroni correction, followed by a paired t test and Tukey test, was used for statistical analysis. The highest Fmax values were observed for the JJ group when using the dominant hand, followed by the JU, RO, AI and NA groups. Variation in Fmax could be attributed to hand dominance (30.9%), sports modality (39.9%) and the interaction between hand dominance andsport (21.3%). The present results demonstrated significant differences in Fmax between the JJ and AI groups and between the JJ and NA groups for both the dominant and non-dominant hand. Significant differences in Fmax between the dominant and non-dominant hand were onlyobserved in the AI and NA groups. The results indicate that Fmax can be used for comparison between different sports modalities, and to identify differences between the dominant and nondominant hand. Studies involving a larger number of subjects will permit the identification ofdifferences between other modalities.