The relationship between narrow and wide bandwidth filter settings during an EMG scanning procedure

This study examined the correlation between EMG values measured with wide (25-1000 Hz) and narrow (100-200 Hz) band-width filters. An EMG diagnostic scan was conducted on 32 chronic pain patients admitted to an inpatient treatment unit. EMG readings were taken from a total of 44 sites (11 sites X 2 sides X 2 postures). Each EMG measure was passed in parallel through a narrow and wide band-pass filter and the stable readings were recorded. Correlated t tests and Pearson correlations were used to compare the data from the narrow and wide filter settings. The measures from the wide filter were significantly higher than the measures from the narrow filter. In addition, 61% of the correlations were greater than .90. The majority of the correlations below the median (.93) occurred in the neck region and the abdomen. The implications of the findings are discussed.