A comparison of surface electromyographic signals recorded from the paraspinal muscles of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis during three loading tests

Abstract

Objective Using surface electromyography (sEMG) techniques to investigate the patterns of frequency domain indexes of sEMC signals recorded from adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients' paraspinal muscles. Methods Twenty-five AIS patients were enrolled. All the patients undertook the Biering Sorensen test ( BST) ,the object-lifting test and a semi-bridge test, the ME3000P sEMG instrument was applied to record the electric activities of paraspinal muscles (convex/concave) of all subjects, and the time domain indexes such as averaged EMG(AEMG)and spectrum area(SPA) were analyzed, values in three tests were compared with one way ANOVA. Results The differences of AEMGs and SPAs on both convex and concave sides among the three tests showed no statistical significances (P = 0. 10,0.23, 0. 24 and 0. 45, respectively). Conclusions Any of the Biering Sorensen test( BST) , the object-lifting test or the semi-bridge test can be used to test the electric activities of paraspinal muscles (convex/concave) of AIS patients. Key words: Surface electromyography; Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis; Biering Sorensen test; Object-lifting test; Semi-bridge test