Muscle length effect on the pendulum test

Objective: An investigation of the effect of the length of knee extensor muscles on the pendulum test. Design: Descriptive. Statistical analysis utilized analysis of variance with planned comparisons. Setting: Community clubs and a stroke rehabilitation unit. Participants: Twenty subjects aged 54 to 83yrs, more than 6 weeks after stroke, and 31 healthy subjects aged 60 to 79yrs. Outcome Measures: Two tests: pendulum test and knee extensor muscle length test. Results: For both affected and intact legs, stroke subjects had significantly smaller angle of reversal (p < .001), peak angular velocity (p < .001), and maximum passive knee flexion (p < .001) than healthy subjects. When angle of reversal was normalized for passive knee flexion, there were no significant differences between healthy and stroke subjects. There were no significant differences in any variable between the intact and affected legs of the stroke subjects. Conclusion: Soft tissue changes, rather than hyperreflexia, may explain the decreased angle of reversal and peak angular velocity in the stroke subjects studied. (C) 1998 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.