ArticlesTest-retest strength reliability: Hand-held dynamometry in community-dwelling elderly fallers☆,☆☆,★,★★,♢,♢♢
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Participants
Forty-one community-dwelling older persons (23 women, 18 men) with a mean age ± standard deviation (SD) of 76±1.2 years volunteered to participate in this study (table 1).Empty Cell Empty Cell Men (n=18) Women (n=23) Age (y) 76.4±6.0 75.8±8.6 Weight (kg) 80.9±15.3 72.6±18.7 Height (m) 1.7±0.1 1.6±0.1 Average no. of comorbidities per subject 2.1 2.0 Assistive device used Cane 8 7 Walker 3 4 No. of falls 1 5 7 ≥2 13 16 * Values are mean ± SD or n.
Results
A muscle strength value was reported for each of the 8 muscle groups, separately for men and women (table 3).Empty Cell Absolute Value* (kg) BMI-Standardized Value* Empty Cell Men (n=18) Women (n=23) Men (n=18) Women (n=23) HF 11.4±2.9 7.9±2.0 .43±.14 .29±.10 HE 9.5±3.3 6.9±2.7 .36±.13 .25±.10 HA 9.8±4.0 7.6±2.1 .37±.16 .28±.10 KE 13.7±5.5 9.8±3.7 .52±.21 .36±.16 KF 10.8±2.3 7.3±2.1 .41±.11 .27±.09 AD 8.9±3.0 6.8±1.6 .34±.13 .25±.08 AI 6.3±1.6 4.8±1.4 .24±.07 .18±.07 AE 6.8±2.0
Discussion
This study showed that in a group of community-dwelling older persons who had fallen previously, lower-extremity muscle strength can be obtained reliably in 1 session by a tester with minimal experience by using this standardized measurement protocol and a Nicholas HHD. Our results are consistent with those of Bohannon,23 whose study included older persons receiving PT at home. Bohannon reported that reliable knee extensor strength could be obtained at a single session (ICC3,1=.941-.985) in the
Conclusion
The results of this study indicate that reliable lower-extremity strength values can be obtained within a single session by using a standardized protocol, even by a tester with minimal experience with the HHD, in community-dwelling elderly individuals who have fallen. The CV calculated for each muscle group was less than 10%; therefore, the hypothesis of measurement consistency was supported.
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Supported in part by the Foundation of Physical Therapy, American Physical Therapy Association.
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No commercial party having a direct financial interst in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
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Reprint requests to Ching-Yi Wang, PhD, Department of Physical Therapy, Tzu-Chi College of Technology, Hualien (970), Taiwan, e-mail: [email protected].
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a. Model 01160; Lafayette Instruments, 3700 Sagamore Pkwy N, Lafayette, IN 47903.
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