Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2009 Feb;48(2):134-9.
doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/ken441. Epub 2008 Dec 11.

Distribution and severity of weakness among patients with polymyositis, dermatomyositis and juvenile dermatomyositis

M O Harris-Love  1 , J A Shrader, D Koziol, N Pahlajani, M Jain, M Smith, H L Cintas, C L McGarvey, L James-Newton, A Pokrovnichka, B Moini, I Cabalar, D J Lovell, R Wesley, P H Plotz, F W Miller, J E Hicks, L G Rider
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Distribution and severity of weakness among patients with polymyositis, dermatomyositis and juvenile dermatomyositis

M O Harris-Love et al. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2009 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To describe the distribution and severity of muscle weakness using manual muscle testing (MMT) in 172 patients with PM, DM and juvenile DM (JDM). The secondary objectives included characterizing individual muscle group weakness and determining associations of weakness with functional status and myositis characteristics in this large cohort of patients with myositis.

Methods: Strength was assessed for 13 muscle groups using the 10-point MMT and expressed as a total score, subscores based on functional and anatomical regions, and grades for individual muscle groups. Patient characteristics and secondary outcomes, such as clinical course, muscle enzymes, corticosteroid dosage and functional status were evaluated for association with strength using univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results: A gradient of proximal weakness was seen, with PM weakest, DM intermediate and JDM strongest among the three myositis clinical groups (P < or = 0.05). Hip flexors, hip extensors, hip abductors, neck flexors and shoulder abductors were the muscle groups with the greatest weakness among all three clinical groups. Muscle groups were affected symmetrically.

Conclusions: Axial and proximal muscle impairment was reflected in the five weakest muscles shared by our cohort of myositis patients. However, differences in the pattern of weakness were observed among all three clinical groups. Our findings suggest a greater severity of proximal weakness in PM in comparison with DM.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Dalakas MC, Hohlfeld R. Polymyositis and dermatomyositis. Lancet. 2003;362:971–82. - PubMed
    1. Christopher-Stine L, Plotz PH. Adult inflammatory myopathies. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2004;18:331–44. - PubMed
    1. Harris-Love MO. Physical activity and disablement in the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2003;15:679–90. - PubMed
    1. Stoll T, Bruhlmann P, Stucki G, Seifert B, Michel BA. Muscle strength assessment in polymyositis and dermatomyositis evaluation of the reliability and clinical use of a new, quantitative, easily applicable method. J Rheumatol. 1995;22:473–7. - PubMed
    1. Rider LG, Giannini EH, Harris-Love M, et al. Defining clinical improvement in adult and juvenile myositis. J Rheumatol. 2003;30:603–17. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

  NODES
Association 2
twitter 2