scholarly journals Using hand grip strength to detect slow walking speed in older adults: the Yilan study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Huai Lin ◽  
Hsi-Chung Chen ◽  
Nai-Wei Hsu ◽  
Pesus Chou

Abstract Background Walking speed is an important health indicator in older adults, although its measurement can be challenging because of the functional decline due to aging and limited environment. The aim of this study was to examine whether hand grip strength can be a useful proxy for detecting slow walking speed in this population. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using the cohort from the Yilan Study in Taiwan. Community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older were included. Slow walking speed was defined as a 6-meter walking speed < 1.0 m/s, according to the 2019 Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia diagnostic criteria. Stepwise multiple linear regression was used to determine the most significant variables associated with walking speed. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to determine the optimal cutoff values for hand grip strength in detecting slow walking speed. Results A total of 301 participants with an average age of 73.9 ± 6.8 years were included; 55.1 % participants were women. In stepwise multiple linear regression analysis that included various variables, hand grip strength was found to be the most explainable factor associated with walking speed among all participants and among participants of each sex. The optimal cutoff values for hand grip strength in the detection of slow walking speed were 19.73 kg for all participants (sensitivity: 55 %, specificity: 83 %, area under the curve: 0.74, accuracy: 66.9 %), 35.10 kg for men (sensitivity: 92 %, specificity: 42 %, area under the curve: 0.70, accuracy: 66.4 %), and 17.93 kg for women (sensitivity: 62 %, specificity: 80 %, area under the curve: 0.76, accuracy: 67.9 %). Conclusions Hand grip strength was found to be a useful proxy for the identification of slow walking speed in older adults.

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Kurmayev ◽  
S. V. Bulgakova ◽  
N. O. Zakharova

Rationale: The progressive decline in skeletal muscle strength and function during aging can lead to disability and premature death. It is of interest to evaluate the potential of bioimpedance phase angle (PhA) as an instrumental marker of sarcopenia in clinical practice.Aim: To identify an association between the phase angles determined by the bioimpedance analysis of body composition, with functional activity parameters in elderly women with multiple comorbidities.Materials and methods: The study included 146  elderly women (aged 75 to 84  years, mean age 79.44±2.56  years). Assessments consisted of the Charlson comorbidity index, “Vozrast ne pomekha” (Age is not a hindrance) questionnaire, the Barthel index, the sit-to-stand five-repeat test, the standardized 4-meter walking speed test, and bioimpedance analysis of body composition (ABC02, Medass, Russia). Muscle strength parameters were assessed by wrist dynamometry with a mechanical wrist dynamometer. The hand dynamometry index was calculated by dividing the hand grip strength by the patient's squared height. According to the EWGSOP2 guidelines for the critical cur-off for hand dynamometry, the patients were divided into two groups: those with the hand grip strength>16 kg (n=41) and those with<16 kg (n=105).Results: There were significant correlations of PhA with age (r=-0.369; p=0.017), the results of the screening questionnaire “Vozrast ne pomekha” (Age is not a hindrance) (r=-0.359; p=0.023), Barthel index (r=0.375; p=0.018), hand dynamometry (r=0.395; p=0.014), hand dynamometry index (r=0.340; p=0.021), lean body mass (r=0.414; p=0.009), musculoskeletal mass (r=0.819; p<0.001), proportion of musculoskeletal mass (r=0.796; p<0.001), walking speed (r=0.670; p<0.001), and the results of the sit-to-stand test (r=-0.541; p<0.001). Sarcopenia was diagnosed in 61 women (41.8%). There were also significant differences in age, hand dynamometry results, hand dynamometry index, walking speed and results of the sit-to-stand test between the two groups depending on their hand grip strength.Conclusion: The use of hand dynamometry, physical activity tests, and bioimpedance phase angle can be used in clinical practice to diagnose sarcopenia.


2022 ◽  
pp. 109980042110651
Author(s):  
Tingting Liu ◽  
Hongjin Li ◽  
Yvette P. Conley ◽  
Brian A. Primack ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
...  

Introduction Aging is associated with subtle cognitive decline in attention, memory, executive function, processing speed, and reasoning. Although lower brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been linked to cognitive decline among older adults, it is not known if the association differs among individuals with various BDNF Val66Met (rs6265) genotypes. In addition, it is not clear whether these associations vary by hand grip strength or physical activity (PA). Methods A total of 2904 older adults were included in this study using data from the Health and Retirement Study. Associations between serum BDNF and measures of cognitive function were evaluated using multivariable linear regression models stratified by Met allele status. PA and hand grip strength were added to the model to evaluate whether including these variables altered associations between serum BDNF and cognition. Results Mean age was 71.4 years old, and mean body mass index was 28.3 kg/m2. Serum BDNF levels were positively associated with higher total cognitive score (beta = 0.34, p = .07), mental status (beta = 0.16, p = .07), and word recall (beta = 0.22, p =.04) among Met carriers, while serum BDNF levels were negatively associated with mental status (beta = −0.09, p = .07) among non-Met carriers. Furthermore, associations changed when hand grip strength was added to the model but not when PA was added to the model. Conclusions The BDNF Val66Met variant may moderate the association between serum BDNF levels and cognitive function in older adults. Furthermore, such associations differ according to hand grip strength but not PA.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trish Gail Sevene ◽  
Joseph Berning ◽  
Chad Harris ◽  
Mike Climstein ◽  
Kent Jason Adams ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Beauchet ◽  
Harmehr Sekhon ◽  
Liam Cooper-Brown ◽  
Cyrille P Launay ◽  
Pierrette Gaudreau ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The co-occurrence of slow walking speed and subjective cognitive complaint (SCC) in non-demented individuals defines motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR), which is a pre-dementia stage. There is no information on the association between MCR and incident dementia in Québec’s older population. Objective The study aims to examine the association of MCR and its individual components (i.e. SCC and slow walking speed) with incident dementia in community-dwelling older adults living in the province of Québec (Canada). Design Québec older people population-based observational cohort study with 3 years of follow-up. Setting Community dwellings. Subjects A subset of participants (n = 1,098) in ‘Nutrition as a determinant of successful aging: The Québec longitudinal study’ (NuAge). Methods At baseline, participants with MCR were identified. Incident dementia was measured at annual follow-up visits using the Modified Mini-Mental State (≤79/100) test and Instrumental Activity Daily Living scale (≤6/8) score values. Results The prevalence of MCR was 4.2% at baseline and the overall incidence of dementia was 3.6%. MCR (Hazard Ratio (HR) = 5.18, with 95% confidence interval (CI) = [2.43–11.03] and P ≤ 0.001) and SCC alone (HR = 2.54, with 95% CI = [1.33–4.85] and P = 0.005) were associated with incident dementia, but slow walking speed was not (HR = 0.81, with 95%CI = [0.25–2.63] and P = 0.736). Conclusions MCR and SCC are associated with incident dementia in NuAge study participants.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Lin Ong ◽  
Edimansyah Abdin ◽  
Boon Yiang Chua ◽  
Yunjue Zhang ◽  
Esmond Seow ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Liu ◽  
Jean Wei Ting Seah ◽  
Benedict Wei Jun Pang ◽  
Mary Ann Tsao ◽  
Falong Gu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome, characterized by reduced physiologic reserve and increased vulnerability to stressors, due to cumulative decline in multiple physiological systems. We studied the feasibility of a community-delivered Baduanjin (BDJ) training program among pre-frail/frail community-dwelling older people. We examined 1) safety (adverse events), physical and psychological effects; and 2) feasibility of recruitment, retention, adherence; recruitment efforts and any program challenges, so as to inform future studies.Methods: Our study was a single arm pre-post study in a community setting. Sixteen week group BDJ training (2x/week in the first 4 weeks, and 3x/week thereafter) co-designed and implemented by community-based providers in Singapore. Recruitment, attendance and adverse events were recorded throughout the training. A participants’ survey was also administered after the training program. Effects of the intervention on physical and functional outcomes (hand grip strength, knee extension strength, Time Up and Go (TUG), Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA), 30-second Sit-to-Stand test, 6-meter fast gait speed test), frailty outcomes (frailty score and status), and other outcomes (Maastricht Questionnaire (MQ), Fall Efficacy Scale (FES), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and EQ-5D-5L) were examined before and after the program.Results: Of 31 older adults screened to be frail, 15 met inclusion criteria and 3 refused participation, resulting in 12 older adults (9 women) enrolled into the program. During the program, one participant was hospitalized (unrelated to BDJ training) and the other 11 (aged 77±6 years; 2 frail, 9 prefrail at baseline) completed the program with average overall attendance of 89%. Most (89%) of the 44 training sessions had attendance >80%. The program received positive feedback with no training-related adverse events. Participants either reversed (n=2) or maintained (n=9) their frailty statuses. There post-training outcomes in hand grip strength, knee extension strength, TUG , MQ , FES , MoCA , GDS and EQ-5D-5L index score appeared to be better. The reduction of frailty and PPA fall risk scores were of moderate-to-large effect size. Conclusions: Community-delivered BDJ training program was safe and feasible for prefrail/frail older adults with the potential to improve physical and cognitive function, reduce fall risk, improve psychological well-being, and reverse frailty status.


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