Validation of the Portuguese Version of the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12.

The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12 (KCCQ-12) is a simple, feasible, and sensitive questionnaire developed in English for assessing the health status (symptoms, function, and quality of life) of patients with heart failure (HF). We aimed to assess the internal consistency and construct validity of the Portuguese version of KCCQ-12. We administered the KCCQ-12, the Minnesota Living Heart Failure (MLHFQ), and the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification by telephone. Internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach's Alpha (α-Cronbach) and construct validity with correlations to the MLHFQ and NYHA. Internal consistency was high (α-Cronbach = 0.92 for the Overall Summary score and 0.77-0.85 for the subdomains). Construct validity was supported by finding high correlations between the KCCQ-12 Physical Limitation and the Symptom Frequency domains with the physical domain of the MLHFQ (r = -0.70 and r = -0.76, p < 0.001 for both) and the Overall Summary scale with NYHA classifications (r = -0.72, p < 0.001). The Portuguese version of KCCQ-12 has high internal consistency and shows a convergent construct validity with other measures quantifying the health status of patients with chronic HF and can be used confidently in Brazil for research and clinical care.

Muscle torque of healthy individuals and individuals with spastic hemiparesis after passive static streching.

Spasticity is one of the main causes of contracture, muscle weakness and subsequent functional incapacity. The passive static stretching can be included as having the purpose of increasing musculoskeletal flexibility, however, it also can influence the muscle torque. The objective is to verify the immediate effect of passive static stretching in the muscle strength of healthy and those who present spastic hemiparesis. There were assessed 20 subjects, 10 spastic hemiparetic (EG) and 10 healthy individuals (CG), including both sexes, aged between 22 and 78 years. The torque of extensor muscles of the knee was analyzed using isokinetic dynamometer. Results have shown that EG has less muscle torque compared to CG ( p < 0.01). In addition, EG presented a decrease in significance of muscle torque after stretching ( p < 0.05), however, it has not shown significant alteration in muscle torque of CG after performing the program that was prescribed. Immediately after the passive stretch, a significant torque decrease can be seen in hypertonic muscle; it is believed that this reduction may be associated with the physiological overlap between actin and myosin filaments and so preventing the muscle to develop a maximum contraction.