Affiliations: [a] School of Nursing, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC, USA | [b] University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA | [c] Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: U. Svantesson, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Box 455, SE 40530 Gothenburg, Sweden. E-mail: ulla.svantesson@neuro.gu.se.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Life expectancy among older adults has dramatically increased and they are one of the fastest growing populations worldwide. Maintaining quality of life and the ability to live independently are often of greater importance than overall life expectancy. OBJECTIVE: To present reference values for tests of muscle function, and to study the relationship to a commonly used tool of generic health related quality of life (HRQL) in older Swedish adults. METHODS: The study consisted of 192 individuals (105 women) aged between 65 and 80. The tests included hand grip and isometric knee extension strength measurements, the standing heel rise test and a 30 m walking test. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was evaluated using the SF-36. RESULTS: Reference values for the measured parameters are presented. There were high correlations (n= 192) between handgrip and leg extension strength (r= 0.72–0.75; p< 0.01). The walking test’s self-selected speed demonstrated the strongest correlation with the physical component summary of the SF-36 (r= 0.57; p< 0.01) and with maximal speed, moderate correlations were demonstrated with muscle strength (r= 0.43–0.56; p< 0.01) and the heel rise test (r= 0.45; p< 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study presents reference values for simple tests of muscle function which are relatively easy to perform, used in a Swedish clinical setting performing screening for older adults.
Keywords: Aging, hand grip strength, muscle strength, SF-36
