Bone Abstracts

Objectives: This study aimed to correlate handgrip strength and functionality of children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI).

Methods: Thirty-eight children and adolescents with different types of OI were single-timed evaluated during their hospitalization for pamidronate intravenous infusion at the University Hospital of Brasília, Brazil. This hospital is the Brazilian Midwest reference for OI treatment through the national health system. These children were 8.21(±4.26) years of age; 50% were girls (n=19); most of them (52.6%) had OI type III diagnosis. They were assessed three times with a manual dynamometer for handgrip strength of the hand free of medication and the authors considered the average score of those three trials. The parents were questioned about their child’s functionality and autonomy through the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), that measures the capability and performance of functional activities in three content domains: self-care, mobility and social function.

Results: Handgrip strength in these children and adolescents ranged from 3 to 33 kgF and PEDI scores ranged from 2 to 64 points. We observed a positive, significant (P=0.032) and regular (r=0.457) Spearman’s correlation between PEDI values and the average of handgrip strength of these children.

Conclusion: Children and adolescents that are most functional and independent had greater scores at PEDI evaluation and this correlates with handgrip strength observed through manual dynamometer. This may be a simple and quick measure to infer the functionality and independence of these patients in a hospital environment.

Disclosure: The authors declared no competing interests.