Muscle Strength and Mass of Lower Extremities in Relation to Functional Abilities in Elderly Adults

Abstract

Background: Functional and physiological declines in advancing age may be significant limiting factors in reduced physical activity. Sarcopenia of aging, as a normative process or disease, cannot entirely explain reduced physical activity in the elderly. Objective: The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between muscle loss and reduction in functional abilities in elderly adults and also to determine whether an exercise program can improve functional performance and muscle quality. Methods: Anthropometric measurements and sensorimotor testing were conducted on 28 volunteers (12 men and 16 women, 82.7 ± 2.4 years of age) who were permanent residents in a skilled nursing facility. Twenty-nine elderly adults (79.3 ± 3.5 years of age) served as a control, nonexercising group. Anthropometric measurements included: weight, height, body fat, and thigh circumference. The muscle strength was tested with a medical isokinetic system. We assessed two sensorimotor functions including a ‘timed up-and-go’ test and a 3-min distance walking test. The institutionalized participants undertook an exercise training program lasting 12 weeks. Results: No significant changes were observed in thigh circumference, body weight, or percentage of body fat in either gender as a result of the exercise training. An improvement in muscle strength was noticed in 82% of the relatively younger group (79–83 years of age) under a slow voluntary contraction at 60°/s (p < 0.05). Post-training results showed a significant improvement in performance in the two sensorimotor tests (p < 0.05). The correlation coefficients between muscle strength and functional ability were weak: r = 0.60 and r = 0.57 for males and females, respectively. Conclusions: This study confirmed the positive effects of an exercise program on functional performance in older adults. The improvement in functional abilities did not correlate with muscle strength, body weight, or body fat.

Elderly Persons with Intellectual Disability: A Study of Clinical Characteristics, Functional Status, and Sensory Capacity

“…It seems to indicate that accelerating aging seen in the ID group might be indirectly reflected by body composition values. Age-associated loss of muscle mass, sarcopenia [27], with concomitant loss of strength and decreased joint flexibility and mobility, contribute to frailty in the older adults and expose these individuals to increased risk [28,29,30,31,32].…”

Influence of exercise intensity in older persons with unchanged habitual nutritional intake: skeletal muscle and endocrine adaptations

“…Indeed, numerous studies have demonstrated that resistance training is an effective measure to counteract sarcopenia in both healthy and frail older adults (Carmeli et al 2000;Charette et al 1991;Ferri et al 2003;Frontera et al 1988Frontera et al , 2000Frontera et al , 2003. It would appear that with an appropriate and effective exercise regimen, older adults may expect gains of 5-10% muscle CSA, accompanied by increases of 20-100% or more in muscle strength, depending on the muscle group under investigation.…”

Efeitos dos exercícios resistidos sobre o equilíbrio e a funcionalidade de idosos saudáveis: artigo de atualização

“…O TR isolado demonstrou ser relevante para a função de idosos (90% dos estudos) 23,[28][29][30][31][32][34][35][36] , sobretudo por seu decorrente ganho de força e mobilidade. O TR a longo prazo demonstrou ser desnecessário para ganhos funcionais.…”

“…Cerca de 65% dessa população tem alguma sensação de perda de equilíbrio 20 . Os efeitos de diferentes tipos de exercícios sobre equilíbrio e função são alvo de diversos estudos [21][22][23][24][25][26] , mas sem um desfecho concludente sobre muitos aspectos.…”