Reliability and Validation of the Canine Manual Muscle Test (C-MMT) as a Measure for Hindlimb Strength in Dogs

Introduction: Veterinary rehabilitation relies on objective outcomes for assessment and progression of therapy; however, evidence is lacking for these tests. This study evaluated reliability and correlation of the canine manual muscle test (C-MMT) with total pressure index (TPI) and isometric stand time (IST) as a measure of hindlimb muscle strength in dogs. This study provides meaningful evidence for C-MMT as a functional outcome measure in veterinary rehabilitation.

Materials and Methods: Eleven healthy mixed breed dogs were prospectively recruited. Each dog was assigned a 5-point c-MMT by blinded evaluators twice with a 30-minute rest period between randomized sequences. Prior to C-MMT, dogs were walked for 6 minutes over a pressure sensitive walkway and tested for IST until failure. TPI of each hindlimb and maximal IST was correlated with C-MMT. Kappa coefficient, means, standard deviation, and Spearman correlation were calculated.

Results: There was good inter-rater (0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.35, 1) and intra-rater (0.66; 95% [confidence interval, CI]: 0.47, 0.86) agreement. Maximal IST was positively correlated with the C-MMT (r = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.10, 0.94; p = 0.08) but not with TPI (r = 0.17; 95% CI: 0.26, 0.55; p = 0.43).

Discussion/Conclusion: C-MMT is a reliable outcome measure; however, correlation to validate the test was not significant. Further studies should evaluate C-MMT in lame or paretic dogs and correlated with validated measures of muscle mass or strength.

Acknowledgments:

There was no proprietary interest of funding provided for this project.

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

Publication History

Article published online:
01 May 2023