AAROM is defined as a combination of patient effort and external help.

• A. Combination of patient effort + external help
• B. Movement done completely by external force
• C. Patient moves limb using their own muscle power
• D. External force only used to lengthen a muscle

Answer: (A)

Active-assisted range of motion means movement is produced with partial patient effort and external assistance guiding or completing the motion. This sits between fully active movement, which relies on the patient’s muscles alone, and fully passive movement, which is moved entirely by an outside force. It’s used when the patient can initiate movement but can’t complete it alone, allowing both muscle activation and joint motion to be preserved. For example, a therapist might guide the limb and provide a light assist as the patient actively contracts, or a pulley system might help while the patient initiates the motion. The other descriptions correspond to fully passive ROM (movement by external force only), fully active ROM (movement by the patient’s own muscles), or a stretch where the external force lengthens tissue without patient initiation. So this blended approach—patient effort plus external help—best defines AAROM.