CORRELATION BETWEEN CLINICAL AND LABORATORIAL MEASUREMENT OF HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY

Abstract

Maximal joint range of motion (ROM) represents the muscular flexibility level. However, different methods are used to measure the ROM at clinic and laboratory. So, the aim of this study was correlate a clinical and a laboratorial measurement of hamstring flexibility. The flexibility of both lower limbs of thirty-six young and healthy subjects was assessed by two apparatus: modified knee extension test (clinical measure) and Flexmachine (laboratorial measure). The results showed a moderate positive and significant correlation (r=0.693; p<0.001) and a common variance of 48% between the maximal ROM measured by these tests. It suggests that clinical and laboratorial tests are independent in nature. Further studies are necessary to correlate the maximal ROM clinically measured and others physiological and biomechanical variables.