Manual Muscle Testing
Also written as: MMT — Manual Muscle Testing
A standardized bedside assessment in which a clinician applies resistance to evaluate the strength of individual muscles or muscle groups, scored on the 0–5 Medical Research Council scale.
Full Definition
Manual muscle testing (MMT) is a foundational examination technique in physical medicine and rehabilitation used to quantify motor weakness and track functional recovery over time. Strength is graded on a 0–5 scale: 0 (no contraction), 1 (visible/palpable contraction without movement), 2 (movement with gravity eliminated), 3 (movement against gravity), 4 (movement against some resistance), and 5 (normal strength). Editors encountering MMT scores must preserve the numeric format and verify that the body part tested is explicitly named. The scale may also appear with plus/minus qualifiers (e.g., 4+/5), which are clinically meaningful and should not be edited out. MMT documentation is central to disability ratings, IME reports, and rehabilitation progress notes.
Usage
Usage note: Always express MMT scores in the format [grade]/5 (e.g., 3/5, 4+/5). Do not convert numeric grades to descriptive words (e.g., do not render '3/5' as 'fair') unless the document explicitly uses a named descriptive scale.
In Context
- "Manual muscle testing revealed 3/5 strength in right hip flexors and 4/5 in right knee extensors." — Physical Therapy Initial Evaluation
- "The editor preserved the '4−/5' notation as clinically meaningful rather than rounding to '4/5.'" — Medical Records Editing Note