H reflex latency in the healthy elderly

✍ Scribed by Dr. Frank J. E. Falco; Dr. William J. Hennessey; Dr. Gary Goldberg; Dr. Randall L. Braddom

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 620 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0148-639X
• DOI: 10.1002/mus.880170205

✦ Synopsis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate prospectively and analyze the relationship of tibial nerve H reflex latency to age, sex, leg length, and skin temperature in a large healthy elderly population. The H reflex was recorded bilaterally in 92% of 103 carefully screened individuals aged 60-88 years. The mean H reflex latency was 30.8 (SD = 2.6) and 30.7 (SD = 2.6) ms for right and left legs, respectively. A high correlation (r = 0.55, P < 0.05) was present between H reflex latency and leg length.

No significant correlation existed for H reflex latency and age. The upper normal limit for the difference between right and left H reflex latencies was 1.8 ms. This limit is greater than that reported in the literature for younger individuals due to a larger standard deviation. These findings suggest that aging increases the between-leg variability of H reflex latency in individuals. This greater difference must be taken into account when using side-to-side H reflex latency comparison to detect unilateral pathology in the elderly.