Conclusion :  Objective muscle strength assessment  can be reliably used in lower and upper extremities in post-stroke patients with chronic hemiparesis
Background : Muscle weakness is the main cause of motor impairment among stroke survivors and is associated with reduced peak muscle torque .
Objective : To systematic ally investigate and organize the evidence of the reliability of muscle strength evaluation measures in post-stroke survivors with chronic hemiparesis .
Reliability of isokinetic normalized peak torque assessments for knee muscles in post-stroke hemiparesis.
The purpose of this study was to establish test-retest reliability of measurement procedures for quantifying isokinetic concentric peak torque ( PT ) at the knee using normalization methods post-stroke . A second aim was to estimate the change required to show clinical ly significant improvements in knee muscles strength .  The isokinetic normalized PT ( NPT ) values for the knee extensors and flexors were measured in each participant at two different angular velocities during two sessions 1 day apart . Thirty participants with mild to moderate hemiparesis after stroke who were able to walk were tested . The normalized PT measures for the knee muscles of the affected lower extremity were highly reliable ( intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.85 to 0.98 ; p<0.05 ) . Size of relative changes ( the percent smallest real difference , SRD% ) for extensors NPT ( ranged from 22.35 % to 25.68 % ) were lower than flexors NPT ( ranged from 74.01 % to 76.31 % ) , indicating that the affected isokinetic knee flexors had more r and om variation than the knee extensors . This study supports the use of isokinetic dynamometers for the assessment of knee muscle strength in participants with chronic mild to moderate post-stroke hemiparesis and to measure clinical improvements . Established measurement error and smallest real differences in normalized PT will aid interpretation of real changes in muscle strength in this clinical population
Conclusion :  Objective muscle strength assessment  can be reliably used in lower and upper extremities in post-stroke patients with chronic hemiparesis
Background : Muscle weakness is the main cause of motor impairment among stroke survivors and is associated with reduced peak muscle torque .
Objective : To systematic ally investigate and organize the evidence of the reliability of muscle strength evaluation measures in post-stroke survivors with chronic hemiparesis .