Age-Related Decline in Handgrip Strength Differs According to Gender

Abstract

It is well-established that at old age there is a significant decline in muscle strength. Reference values for muscle strength might be useful for assessment of muscle impairment and of physiological adaptations. However, it is still unclear whether gender affects the rate of decline. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of gender and age on handgrip strength and to establish reference values for this variable. Reviewing medical charts collected from 1994 to 2005, a convenience sample of 2,648 subjects (1,787 men and 861 women), aged between 18 and 90 years, was obtained. Our results show higher handgrip strength for men compared with women (36.8 +/- 0.20 vs. 21.0 +/- 0.18 kg; p < 0.001). The regression analysis with a quadratic model shows that aging accounts for 30% of the variance in handgrip strength (r(2) = 0.30; p < 0.001) in men and 28% (r(2) = 0.28; p < 0.001) in women. In addition, the bent linear regression with multiple regressors show that a faster decline in handgrip strength occurs at the age of 30 years for men and 50 years for women. We conclude that handgrip strength decline with age differs between genders, making useful the existence of distinct male and female normative age group data.

Age-related change in handgrip strength in men and women: is muscle quality a contributing factor?

“…For instance, a study (Kallman et al 1990) from a cross-sectional analysis of 847 subjects (age 20 to 100 years) observed a decline in HGS beginning in the sixth decade and become progressively lower at an accelerated rate, such that the ages 80-89 had 37 % less HGS than ages 30-39. In the present study, our results are consistent with the previous studies (Kallman et al 1990;Vianna et al 2007) that HGS declined progressively with age after the fifth decade in both sexes and that the age 80-89 group had approximately 30 % less HGS than the younger aged group in men and women.…”

“…Previously, numerous cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have reported that HGS decreased gradually with increasing age in both men and women (Kallman et al 1990;Rantanen et al 1998;Lauretani et al 2003;Vianna et al 2007), although the beginning age when HGS declines differs among those studies. For instance, a study (Kallman et al 1990) from a cross-sectional analysis of 847 subjects (age 20 to 100 years) observed a decline in HGS beginning in the sixth decade and become progressively lower at an accelerated rate, such that the ages 80-89 had 37 % less HGS than ages 30-39.…”

Ponto ótimo cardiorrespiratório: uma variável submáxima do teste cardiopulmonar de exercício

“…The aging process results in several structural and physiological alterations, such as muscle strength decrease 23 , loss of flexibility 24 and VO 2 max reduction 25 , so we might expect that this would occur with the COP. Regarding the ventilatory variables, it is known that, over the years, there is also a reduction in respiratory muscle strength 26 and some ventilatory indicators, such as forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 27 and forced vital capacity (FVC ) 28 , as well as a less effective response to the increase in PaCO2 at rest 29 .…”

Respostas hemodinâmicas a um protocolo de treinamento isométrico de preensão manual

“…Knowing that the handgrip strength tends to decrease with aging in patients of both sexes 30,31 , it is quite appropriate that the IHT involves the objective measurement of maximal strength bilaterally in each patient, thus effectively allowing training load equalization at a percentage of 30% of the maximal individual strength.…”