title: Effect of damp on isokinetic measurements.
abstract: Meaningful use of isokinetic data requires understanding potential sources of variation and error. The purpose of this study was to examine one possible source of variation: the effect of recorder damp settings on Cybex II torque tracings. The effect of damp settings 0 through 4 at speeds of 30 degrees/sec and 75 degrees/sec was assessed by dropping loads of 13.65 kg and 36.85 kg attached to a lever arm of 30.5 cm on a Cybex II. The effect of damp settings at 180 degrees/sec was examined with the same weights at damp settings 2 and 4. Increasing damp resulted in 1) a decrease in amplitude of the entire torque curve and a decreased measurement of peak torque and 2) a shift of the torque curve to the right (later in time). The data underscore the need to record and to report the damp settings used during isokinetic testing.
mesh_terms: D004582:Electronics, Medical / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement; D009132:Muscles / Q000502:physiology*