title: Reducing intersubject variability in motor unit number estimation.
abstract: Motor unit number estimation (MUNE) attempts to directly assess the number of functioning motor units present in a muscle. It is an important addition to the electrodiagnostic evaluation; however, both intrasubject and intersubject reliability must be minimized for this technique to be clinically useful. A number of MUNE techniques have been developed. We propose a change in the way of calculating the MUNE, using the statistical technique described by Daube, and show that this modification reduces intersubject variability and improves test-retest reliability in normal subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse, Syracuse, New York 13210, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Shefner
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jillapalli
authors.forename: D Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002452:Cell Count; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004576:Electromyography; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014459:Ulnar Nerve / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology