The effects of motor adaptation on ankle isokinetic assessments in older drivers

Angelica Castilho Alonso, Guilherme Carlos Brech, Rita de Cássia Ernandes, Douglas Rodrigues, Sérgio Ayama, Alexandra Carolina Canonica, Natália Mariana Silva Luna, Sileno da Silva Santos, Luis Mochizuki, Mark Peterson, Luiz Eugênio Garcez-Leme, Júlia Maria D’Andréa Greve

This study sought to analyze the extent of motor adaptation in ankle plantar flexors and dorsiflexors among older drivers during clinical isokinetic testing. One hundred older adults (70.4±5.7 years) participated in two bilateral ankle plantar flexor and dorsiflexor isokinetic assessments at 30°/sec. Peak torque (PTQ), PTQ adjusted for body weight (PTQ/BW), and total work (TW) were analyzed. On the dominant side, PTQ/BW and TW were significantly greater for the second plantar flexion test than were those for the first such test (p<0.001), whereas PTQ, PTQ/BW, and TW (p<0.001) were significantly greater for the second dorsiflexion test than were those for the first such test. On the non-dominant side, plantar flexion PTQ and TW were significantly lower for the second test than were those for the first test (p<0.001). Older drivers demonstrated better performance with the dominant limb on the second test. The low variability in test execution showed the existence of a motor adaptation effect for the tested movements, despite the short recovery period between the assessments.