| This study assessed the relationship between impairment measures of strength as measured by the manual muscle test (MMT) and functional limitation as measured by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) in the lower cervical level spinal cord injured. Twenty inpatients from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital or Boston University Medical Center were included.; Discharge demographic, impairment and motor FIM task variables were gathered from a spinal cord database or medical records. Descriptive statistics, Spearman rank correlation coefficients, stepwise regressions and discriminate analyses were performed.; This study quantified the specific contributions of the strength impairment for each individual motor FIM task. Therefore, it was concluded that specific relationships between impairments and functional limitations may be helpful to consider in directing interventions to maximize outcome during rehabilitation. |
