Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2021 , Vol 67 , Num 1

Functional evaluation of patients with mastectomy lymphedema

Yıldız Erdoğanoğlu 1 ,Meryem Çalık 2 ,Meltem Vural 2
1 Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Üsküdar University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
2 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Health Sciences, Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
DOI : 10.5606/tftrd.2021.4616 Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the availability of the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test in daily practice instead of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) test for the evaluation of fear of movement and to assess the functionality of the upper extremity in postmastectomy lymphedema patients.

Patients and methods: Between March 2018 and July 2018, a total of 30 female patients (mean age 53.8±12.3 years; range, 35 to 80 years) with postmastectomy lymphedema were included in this study. The severity of lymphedema of the patients was measured circumferentially at 5-cm intervals. All patients were evaluated for upper extremity functionality using the Timed Functional Arm and Shoulder Test, hand grip strength using a hand dynamometer, and pinch strength using a pinchmeter. The TSK test was used for the evaluation of fear of movement and TUG test was used for the evaluation of functional status of lower extremity.

Results: There was a significant difference in functionality between the affected and unaffected side of upper extremity (p<0.05). According to the TSK results, all patients described themselves as kinesiophobic, and advanced fear of movement was found in 66.67% of the patients. However, according to the TUG scores, lower extremity functionality of all patients was normal.

Conclusion: Our study results showed that, independently of the severity of lymphedema, fear of movement was seen in every patient and functionality of upper extremity decreased on the affected side. On the other hand, the TUG test may not be useful to asses fear of movement in daily practice regarding to functional scores of these patients. Keywords : Lymphedema, kinesiophobia, Timed Up and Go test