Ana Clara Ribeiro Lages

Heel-rise test in the assessment of individuals with peripheral arterial occlusive disease.

Introduction The Heel-Rise Test (HRT) is a clinical instrument relevant to vascular rehabilitation that has been proposed to assess the function of the triceps surae muscle. To use HRT in the assessment of individuals with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD), its ability to detect differences in the functional performance of patients with PAOD must be verified. Aim To verify whether the test is sensitive in differentiating between individuals with PAOD with distinct functional capacities. Materials and methods A transversal study in which individuals with PAOD were assessed using the HRT, the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ), and the Shuttle Walk Test. The following variables were analyzed: number of plantar flexions performed in the HRT (time in seconds) and velocity (plantar flexions per second) when performing plantar flexions up to the point of volunteer fatigue, maximum distance walked in the Shuttle Walk Test, and scores obtained in each WIQ domain. Results Twenty-five individuals (14 male) were included in the study, with a mean age of 63.36 ± 9.83 years. The variables number of plantar flexions and time to perform the HRT were sensitive enough to differentiate between distinct functional capacities in individuals with PAOD (P = 0.003 and P = 0.009, respectively). However, this result was not found for the variable of velocity in the HRT. The number of plantar flexions in the HRT was sensitive enough to differentiate individuals of extreme classes on the WIQ domain, stairs (P = 0.008). Conclusion The HRT can be applied in clinical practice as a valid assessment of the distinct function capacities of individuals with PAOD.

Does the heel-rise test explain functional capacity in venous insufficiency?

Introduction Individuals with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) have muscle pump dysfunction and reduced functionality. However, studies are inconsistent in proving whether a particular test can assess muscle functional capacity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether the heel-rise test (HRT) is able to explain functional capacity in patients with CVI. Materials and methods Subjects with CVI aged between 20 and 59 years old were selected for this study. All participants were classified by means of the Clinical Anatomy Etiology Pathophysiology Classification of Chronic Venous Disease (CEAP). The HRT and the shuttle walk test (SWT) were performed. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation, linear models and regression variance analysis (one-way ANOVA) were used for data analysis. Significance was set at alpha ≤ 5%. Results 79 subjects were included in the study (38.79 ± 1.34 years). The HRT was able to explain functional capacity only in individuals aged between 50-59 years (R2 = 0.60, p = 0.0001). The heel-rise test was not sensitive to detect differences between the CEAP classes analyzed (p > 0.05). Conclusion The HRT was able to explain functional capacity in individuals aged between 50-59 years, and it can be applied in clinical practice for the functional evaluation of patients with CVI with mild severity in this age range.