Correlação entre escalas de Ashworth Modificada, Tardieu Modificada e Visual Analógica em pessoas com lesão medular

Abstract

Introduction: Spasticity is one of the most frequent symptoms in subjects who have suffered a spinal cord injury (SCI). This has an impact on the need to understand and evaluate the spasticity of these individuals in different possibilities and contexts. The use of validated scales such as the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS), and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) becomes of fundamental importance for clinical evaluation. Objectives: Verify the correlation between the MAS, MTS, and VAS scales in the assessment of spasticity in subjects who have suffered SCI. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional correlation study. The sample was recruited conveniently at the Specialized Rehabilitation Center (SRC) of the Instituto Santos Dumont (ISD). Individuals had their spasticity assessed using MAS, MTS, and VAS, with the target muscles being rectus femoris, biceps femoris, long adductor, and medial gastrocnemius bilaterally. For scale analysis purposes, the highest score obtained during spasticity assessment was used. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 8. Normality of variables was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test, and correlation between measures was assessed using the Spearman test. Results: Ten men participated in the research, with a mean age of 34 (± 8.4) years and an average injury time of 4.5 (± 2.2) years. There was a moderate statistically significant correlation between MAS and MTS data (p-value= 0.045; p= 0.65). There was no statistically significant correlation between MAS and VAS (p-value= 0.089; p= 0.57) and MTS and VAS data (p-value= 0.389; p= 0.31). Conclusion: MAS showed significant and moderate correlation results when related to MTS. Thus, it is suggested that MTS measurements are similar to MAS measurements for the same individual with SCI. However, VAS did not show a significant correlation when related to VAS and MTS, which may be attributed to its subjectivity, along with the inherent complexity of the other scales.