Grip Strength in Older Adults: Test-Retest Reliability and Cutoff for Subjective Weakness of Using the Hands in Heavy Tasks

doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.225

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Volume 91, Issue 11, November 2010, Pages 1747-1751

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.07.225 Get rights and content

Abstract

Wang C-Y, Chen L-Y. Grip strength in older adults: test-retest reliability and cutoff for subjective weakness of using the hands in heavy tasks.

Objective

To examine the test-retest reliability of grip strength when using the mean value, the best value, and the first value of 2 grip strength measurements and to determine the cutoff value for separating those who were able or unable to perform a heavy task with their hands in a group of Taiwanese adults.

Design

Cross-sectional test-retest study.

Setting

Local community centers.

Participants

Community-dwelling older adults (N=469; age, ≥60y).

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures

Self-reported measure of ability to perform heavy tasks with their hands and grip strength.

Results

The test-retest reliability of grip strength in older adults was good (intraclass correlation coefficient ≥.85) when using the mean value, the best value, or the first of 2 measurements. Optimum cutoff values were 28.5 and 18.5kg, and values with 75% sensitivity were 34 and 22kg for men and women, respectively.

Conclusions

The test-retest reliability of grip-strength measurement in a group of Taiwanese older adults was acceptable when the best value, the mean value, or the first of 2 measurements was used. The reported mean and cutoff values for grip strength also could serve as reference values for the public to monitor their grip strength performance and identify those at risk for early intervention.

Section snippets

Participants

Subjects were recruited from local communities through local advertisements and flyers. Older adults who participated in activities at community centers were approached by a research assistant asking for their consent to participate. Those who met the following criteria were included: (1) aged 60 years or older, (2) living in the community, and (3) able to understand the instructions and perform the physical tests. People with the following conditions were excluded: (1) lesions/diseases of the

Results

Community-dwelling elderly adults (N=469) participated in this study. This study sample included 249 (53.1%) women and 220 (46.9%) men with a mean ± SD age of 73.1±6.7 years. There were 311 (66.3%) in the able group (able to perform both heavy tasks) and 158 (33.7%) in the disabled group (need help or unable to perform at least 1 heavy task).

Demographic statistics of participants are listed in table 1. The able group was younger, had fewer comorbid conditions, and walked faster in both the male

Discussion

The aims of this study were to examine and compare the test-retest reliability of grip-strength measures using the mean value, the best value, and the first of 2 measurements, as well as to identify cutoff values for separating older adults into able and disabled groups for performing heavy tasks with their hands in a group of Taiwanese community-dwelling older adults. Consistent with previous studies, our results support the test-retest reliability of grip-strength measurement in a group of

Conclusions

Test-retest reliability of grip-strength measurement was acceptable in a group of Taiwanese older adults when the first value, the best value, or the mean value of 2 measurements was used. Older adults at an early stage of physical decline are in danger of further decline, but they may respond well to timely identification and intervention. The reported mean and cutoff values could provide clinicians with a reference to interpret test results when assessing older adults and also could serve as

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Citation Excerpt :
Participants were given two trials on each arm with 1-min rest time in between trials. In the current study, test-retest reliability of handgrip strength was good (ICC = 0.87) which is similar to research by Wang et al. (2010), who also found good reliability (ICC = 0.85) of the HG test in older adults. Participants’ performance on the vertical jump test was determined using the Vertec™ (Vertec, Sports Imports, Hilliard, OH) system.
The modified Functional Movement Screen™ (mFMS) has been used to screen for mobility, stability, motor control, and balance in older adults, yet, its relationship to measures of physical fitness is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between mFMS scores and measures of physical fitness in older adults. A secondary aim was to determine physical fitness differences depending on mFMS Lower Body Motor Control Screen scores.
One hundred and eight older adults completed this cross-sectional study. Measurements of physical fitness included: Handgrip Strength (HG), Back-Leg Strength Dynamometer (BLS), 8 foot Up and Go (8UG), Vertical Jump (VJ), Medicine Ball Throw (MBT), Chair Stand (CST), Arm Curl (AC), and 6-Minute Walk test (6 MW). The mFMS consisted of four screens: Shoulder Mobility Screen (SMS), Deep Squat (DS), Active Straight Leg Raise (ASLR), and a Lower Body Motor Control Screen (LB-MCS). Spearman's R correlations determined associations between physical fitness tests and mFMS scores (DS, SMS, ASLR). Independent t-tests or Mann Whitney U tests determined whether individuals who passed the LB-MCS displayed higher physical fitness scores.
The DS was significantly correlated with all fitness measures (p < 0.05). Higher DS scores were associated with better HG (r = 0.31), BLS (r = 0.49), VJ height (r = 0.54), MBT (r = 0.41), CST (r = 0.57), AC (r = 0.30), 6 MW (r = 0.50), and 8UG (r = −0.61) performance. Individuals who passed the LB-MCS displayed superior BLS, 8UG test, and 6 MW test performance (p < 0.05).
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Citation Excerpt :
The research team carried out the GS test according to Porto, Nakaishi et al. (2019) only on the dominant upper limb (member of choice for writing) using a manual dynamometer (Jamar, Sammons Preston, Illinois), and repeated it 3 times in order to obtain the mean. One can use this test as an indicator of overall muscle strength (Porto, Nakaishi et al., 2019) which shows excellent test-retest reliability (ICC ≥ 0.85) (Wang & Chen, 2010). After the initial evaluation, the research team monitored the participants via telephone contact on a monthly basis over a period of 12 months in order to identify prospective fall episodes.
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: Supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan (grant nos. NSC 94-2314-B-277-004, NSC97-2314-B-040-005).

: No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.

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Original articleGrip Strength in Older Adults: Test-Retest Reliability and Cutoff for Subjective Weakness of Using the Hands in Heavy Tasks

Abstract

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Interventions

Main Outcome Measures

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Participants

Results

Discussion

Conclusions

Arch Gerontol Geriatr

Appl Ergon

J Hand Ther

Physiotherapy

Dynamometer measurements of hand-grip strength predict multiple outcomes

Percept Mot Skills

Hand-grip dynamometry predicts future outcomes in aging adults

J Geriatr Phys Ther

Is grip strength a useful single marker of frailty?

Age Ageing

Handgrip strength and mortality in older Mexican Americans

J Am Geriatr Soc

Walking speed as a good predictor for the onset of functional dependence in a Japanese rural community population

Age Ageing

Frailty in older adults: evidence for a phenotype

J Gerontol Med Sci

Scales to measure competence in everyday activities

Psychopharmacol Bull

A hierarchical correlation between mobility tasks and ADL disability

Disabil Rehabil

Hand-grip strength predicts incident disability in non-disabled older men

Age Ageing

Original article
Grip Strength in Older Adults: Test-Retest Reliability and Cutoff for Subjective Weakness of Using the Hands in Heavy Tasks