Muscle force generation and force control of finger movements in children with spastic hemiplegia during isometric tasks

Force control ability was investigated in 10 males and 10 females, between 5 and 15 years old with spastic hemiplegia (mild and moderate hand dysfunction), and an aged-matched control group (eight males, 12 females). An isometric force production task at five different levels of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) was performed. Results showed that MVC generated with the affected hand (AH) was only one-third of that generated by the non-affected hand (NAH;p < 0.001), time to peak was almost twofold at the highest force level (p < 0.001), and the coefficient of variation was twice as high (p < 0.001). Results for the NAH did not differ from those of the control children. Correlations between clinical and experimental variables were significant for the relation between Ashworth score for elbow flexors, MVC and variability at the highest force level. In conclusion, the findings for the AH suggests that strength training should be considered for agonist spastic muscles.