Comparing composite scores based on maximal voluntary isometric contraction and oil semiquantitative manual motor testing in measuring limb strength in patients with ALS

Maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) is a standardized tool for measuring disease progression in patients with ALS. After normalization, summation, and averaging, it generates composite scores (CS) (''megascores''). In a cross-sectional study, these scores were highly correlated with ''average strength'' composite scores based on semi- quantitative manual motor testing (SQMMT): r=0.697 (p <0.0001). Each 10% difference in the raw SQMMT-CS corresponds to a 0.56 difference in the MVIC-CS (95% confidence limits [CL], 0.38, 0.14). Controlling for height (a highly significant-covariate, p <0.0001), each 10% difference in SQMMT-CS corresponds to a 0.39 difference in MVIC-CS (95% CL, 0.24, 0.54).