Reliability of nerve function assessments for people with peripheral neuropathy

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Neuroscience
• Clinical Research

Background:

• Peripheral neuropathy (PN) affects sensory and reflexive functions, crucial for clinical assessment.
• Reliability of sensory and reflexive tests in PN patients, beyond presynaptic inhibition, is not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the test-retest reliability of lower extremity sensory and reflexive measures in individuals with peripheral neuropathy.

Main Methods:

• Twelve participants with diagnosed PN underwent testing on two occasions separated by at least 7 days.
• Measures included plantar sensitivity, H-reflex, and active and passive ankle proprioception (AAP and PAP).
• Statistical analysis employed paired t-tests and Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).

Main Results:

• Moderate to high reliability was found for plantar sensitivity (ICC=0.92), H-reflex (peak-to-peak H wave ICC=0.71, M wave ICC=0.84, latency ICC=0.78, H-Index ICC=0.85), and ankle proprioception (AAP ICC=0.62, PAP index ICC=0.60).
• A significant difference was noted in AAP at 0º (p=0.04), but other parameters showed no significant differences.
• Other tested parameters exhibited low reliability.

Conclusions:

• Measures such as Hmax, Mmax, latency, H-Index, plantar sensitivity, and ankle proprioception indices demonstrate reliable test-retest properties in PN patients.
• These reliable measures are suitable for further investigation and clinical application in peripheral neuropathy research.