Hoffmann Reflex Measured From Lateral Gastrocnemius Is More Reliable Than From Soleus Among Elderly With Peripheral Neuropathy

Qipeng Song; Mengzi Sun; Kelsey Lewis; Jung Hun Choi; Brad Manor; Li Li

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2022.800698

Hoffmann Reflex Measured From Lateral Gastrocnemius Is More Reliable Than From Soleus Among Elderly With Peripheral Neuropathy

Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Mar 11:14:800698. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.800698. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Qipeng Song^{1

2}, Mengzi Sun^{2

3}, Kelsey Lewis², Jung Hun Choi⁴, Brad Manor^{5

6

7}, Li Li²

Affiliations

¹ Biomechanics Laboratory, College of Sports and Health, Shandong Sport University, Jinan, China.
² Department of Health Sciences and Kinesiology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, United States.
³ Biomechanics Laboratory, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, United States.
⁵ Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston, MA, United States.
⁶ Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
⁷ Division of Gerontology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: Peripheral neuropathy (PN) affects up to 20% of the population over the age of 60. Hoffmann reflex (H-reflex) may assess PN adaptation by measuring the function of the peripheral neural system and central nervous system (CNS) modulation. This project aimed to find a reliable muscle among triceps surae muscles during standing and walking among the PN population.

Materials and methods: Sixteen older adults (> 65 years of age) diagnosed with PN were recruited in this study. The H-reflex test was conducted on the muscle belly of the soleus (SOL), the medial (MG), and lateral gastrocnemius (LG) during standing and walking (heel contact, midstance, and toe-off phases). All measurements were collected on two occasions, separated by at least 7 days. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and their confidence intervals (CIs) were used to examine the consistency of the H-reflex outcome variables in the repeated tests for all three tested muscles.

Results: The ICCs of H-index during standing and the three walking phases were poor to moderate in SOL (0.486∼0.737) and MG (0.221∼0.768), and moderate to high in LG (0.713∼0.871). The ICCs of H/M ratio were poor to moderate in SOL (0.263∼0.702) and MG (0.220∼0.733), and high in LG (0.856∼0.958).

Conclusion: The H-reflex of LG was more reliable than SOL and MG during standing and walking among older adults with peripheral neuropathy. It is crucial for future studies in this population to study H-reflex of LG, not SOL and MG, for more reliable results.

Keywords: H-reflex; central nervous modulation; peripheral nerve; peripheral nervous system diseases; postural balance; postural control.