Effects of electrical stimulation of antagonist muscles on shoulder joint adduction force and grip strength.

Fifteen healthy young men who could stand and contract maximally. Nothing here shows what happens in bedridden older adults with limited range of motion, the population the introduction is about. The outcomes were maximal voluntary force in two positions, not joint range of motion, not passive resistance during stretching, and not caregiver burden. The link the paper opens with, that less force means easier care, was never measured. No muscle activity was recorded, so the authors cannot say why the deltoid stimulation reduced force or why the finger extensor stimulation did not reduce grip. Grip force was normalised by height squared and shoulder force by limb length, so the raw numbers are not directly comparable to everyday dynamometer readings. A single small crossover study with no blinding of the participants to whether stimulation was on or off.

Funded by JSPS KAKENHI, a Japanese government grant. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Do not read the reduced shoulder adduction torque as evidence that electrical stimulation will improve range of motion or make stretching easier for bedridden patients. The study measured maximal voluntary force in healthy young men, not range of motion or passive resistance, and the authors state that whether lowering force prevents or improves contractures still needs to be verified.