The Response of Range of Motion Exercise on Upper Extremities Towards Muscle Strength in Critically Ill Patients Using MMT Scale and MyoMES

Critically ill patients require care aimed at increasing muscle strength. Passive and active Range of Motion (ROM) exercises can be applied on the upper extremities to improve muscle strength, reduce duration of inactivity, increase venous return, increase oxygen distribution towards bodily tissues, and repair muscle dysfunction. Currently, nurses manually conduct muscle strength measurements using a Manual Muscle Test (MMT) scale. CBIOM3S of Universitas Diponegoro designed MyoMES as a technological innovation that aids in measuring muscle strength. This study is Quasi-experimental research with implementing a pre-post-test design with no control group. The participants were four first-day ICU patients with cardiovascular disorders. The participants were intervened with ROM exercise of the upper extremities. On the first day in the ICU, a ROM exercise was performed on the participants, with a pretest using MMT and MyoMES preceding the procedure. The ROM exercise was repeated on the second and third day for 30–60 minutes. The post-test was conducted after the ROM exercise on the third day. MMT and MyoMES were utilised to evaluate the muscle strength of the participants. The data were analysed through the Wilcoxon test. Wilcoxon test revealed no difference in muscle strength measured with MMT and MyoMES between the pretest and the post-test ROM of the right and left wrist flexor and flexor digitorum superficialis muscles for three days.