Efficacy of Two Different Method of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Quadriceps Strength, Fatigue and Physical Function in Geriatric Population

The decline in physical function and strength was seen by the nature of aging. The older adults often complain of fatigue. For these reasons, proper rehabilitation approaches should be used to ensure healthy life and to keep the quality of life at the highest possible level by minimizing the decline seen with aging process. Exercise programs and Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) are applied in rehabilitation to restore muscular strength and improve physical performance. NMES is used to prevent the atrophy of nonuse, to increase joint range of motion, to re-educate muscle, to regulate spasticity, to replace orthosis, to improve motor involvement of muscle fibers. Despite the use of NMES for strengthening in the clinics, the application parameters and methods should be discussed. The frequency, the pulse duration, the on / off time, the amplitude, the waveform of the current and the application time vary between the studies. For geriatric populations, it is recommended that the highest intensity, biphasic symmetrical currents with a frequency in the range of 50-100 Hz, for 100-400 μs, can be pulsed for ideal amplification. NMES is usually practiced by physiotherapists continuously for 20 minutes in to strengthen. However, in recent studies, it has been shown that continuous application of a single-session 100 Hz current for 20 minutes leads to intense fatigue and after a while the effect of the strengthening of the current has been removed. Therefore, intermittent applications have been proposed instead of continuous applications for 20 minutes. Considering the fragility and the presence of sarcopenia in the geriatric population, NMES applications should be preferred in which rest periods are given instead of continuous application for 20 minutes. In the literature, there is no study showing the effect of NMES on Quadriceps strength, fatigue and physical function by using quadriceps stimulation for 20 minutes using different stimulation periods.Therefore, in this study, will be investigated the possible effects of two different methods of NMES on Quadriceps strength, fatigue and physical function.