Association between electromyographic and neurophysiological indices and functional and function-related outcomes after lower-limb injury: A three-level meta-analysis.
Lower-limb sports injuries may leave persistent neuromuscular deficits that conventional functional measures do not fully capture. Surface electromyography (sEMG) and related neurophysiological indices may provide complementary information, but their associations with functional and function-related...
| Published in: | Journal of Back & Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation p. 1 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Sage Publications Inc.
Sep2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=196920957&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 196920957 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 10538127 3MD jtl: Journal of Back & Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation issn: 10538127 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2026 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. place: Thousand Oaks, California artinfo: ui: 196920957 10.1177/10538127261488143 196920957 ppf: 1 formats: tig: atl: Association between electromyographic and neurophysiological indices and functional and function-related outcomes after lower-limb injury: A three-level meta-analysis. aug: au: Zhu, Junhui Bu, Yan Song, Zhongming Xu, Ling Zhang, Hongxiang affil: Faculty of Education, 61775 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , Bangi, Malaysia sug: ab: Lower-limb sports injuries may leave persistent neuromuscular deficits that conventional functional measures do not fully capture. Surface electromyography (sEMG) and related neurophysiological indices may provide complementary information, but their associations with functional and function-related outcomes remain uncertain.Following PRISMA guidance (PROSPERO: CRD420261416860), PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and CNKI were searched from inception to 2 May 2026. Eligible studies reported correlations between EMG/neurophysiological indices and functional or function-related outcomes after lower-limb injury. Methodological quality was assessed using the JBI checklist. A three-level random-effects model pooled Fisher-transformed correlations while accounting for effect sizes nested within studies. Subgroup analyses were considered exploratory because few independent studies were available.Six studies contributed 14 effect sizes from 135 participants. The pooled association was moderate and positive (Fisher's Z = 0.536, 95% CI 0.305–0.766, p = 0.003; r = 0.490). The 95% prediction interval was 0.201–0.700, although its stability was limited. The largest descriptive estimates occurred for patellofemoral pain and central activation ratio (both r = 0.715), but both were based on the same two studies and four effect sizes, preventing separation of injury-type and index-class effects. Outcome-type differences were not significant (Q = 0.391, p = 0.823). Leave-one-out estimates remained positive (r = 0.419–0.531). Publication bias could not be assessed reliably.EMG/neurophysiological indices may be positively associated with functional and function-related outcomes after lower-limb injury. However, the evidence base is small, subgroup findings are exploratory, and larger prospective studies using standardized protocols are needed. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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