Relationship between Strength, Power and Balance Performance in Seniors

Abstract

Background: Deficits in strength, power and balance represent important intrinsic risk factors for falls in seniors. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between variables of lower extremity muscle strength/power and balance, assessed under various task conditions. Methods: Twenty-four healthy and physically active older adults (mean age: 70 ± 5 years) were tested for their isometric strength (i.e. maximal isometric force of the leg extensors) and muscle power (i.e. countermovement jump height and power) as well as for their steady-state (i.e. unperturbed standing, 10-meter walk), proactive (i.e. Timed Up & Go test, Functional Reach Test) and reactive (i.e. perturbed standing) balance. Balance tests were conducted under single (i.e. standing or walking alone) and dual task conditions (i.e. standing or walking plus cognitive and motor interference task). Results: Significant positive correlations were found between measures of isometric strength and muscle power of the lower extremities (r values ranged between 0.608 and 0.720, p < 0.01). Hardly any significant associations were found between variables of strength, power and balance (i.e. no significant association in 20 out of 21 cases). Additionally, no significant correlations were found between measures of steady-state, proactive and reactive balance or balance tests performed under single and dual task conditions (all p > 0.05). Conclusion: The predominately nonsignificant correlations between different types of balance imply that balance performance is task specific in healthy and physically active seniors. Further, strength, power and balance as well as balance under single and dual task conditions seem to be independent of each other and may have to be tested and trained complementarily.

Sensor-based monitoring of sit-to-stand performance is indicative of objective and self-reported aspects of functional status in older adults

“…r s =0.36-0.58) [4], IQS (r=0.71-0.72) [4,6] and self-reported questionnaires (r=-0.47) [5] found in other studies. A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 0.90) was comparable to the discriminative ability of STS parameters reported in another study (AUC=0.50-0.96) [27].…”

“…STS measures were calculated from an individual sensor, because from a practical perspective a single sensor is preferred over multiple sensors. Studies show that leg power is associated with mobility, leg strength, selfreported measures of activities and mobility [3][4][5][6]. Therefore, we hypothesized that sensorbased STS peak power is associated with mobility, leg strength, self-reported measures of limitations in activities and frailty.…”

“…Leg power is a determinant of mobility (changing basic body position, i.e. getting into and out of a body position and moving from one location to another [2]) and an important parameter for measuring intervention effects [3][4][5][6]. Motion sensors can be used to estimate vertical peak power during the STS transfer [7] with adequate reliability and sensitivity to change [8][9][10].…”

Small Distal Muscles and Balance Predict Survival in End-Stage Renal Disease

“…Functional reach consists of leaning forward as far as possible without losing balance and is dependent on sex, age and height [17,18,19,20]. …”

Comparison Of Two Systems Designed To Measure Vertical Jump Height. [Comparación de dos sistemas diseñados para medir altura de salto vertical].

“…ince Bosco, Luhtanen and Komi (1983) defined a battery test to assess indirectly the lower body strength and power, the vertical jump height is commonly used in sport scientists to evaluate athletic (Chaabene, Hachana, Franchini, Mkaouer, & Chamari, 2012;Higham, Pyne, Anson, & Eddy, 2012;Ostojic, Mazic, & Dikic, 2006;Schaal, Ransdell, Simonson, & Gao, 2012) and non-athletic population such as older people (Bosco & Komi, 1980;Muehlbauer, Besemer, Wehrle, Gollhofer, & Granacher, 2012), obese people (Dumith, Ramires, Souza, Moraes, Petry, Oliveira, Ramires, & Hallal, 2010;Rauch, Veilleux, Bock, Welisch, Filler, Robinson, & Norozi, 2012;RiddifordHarland, Steele, & Baur, 2006) or children (Eather, Morgan, & Lubans, 2012;Souissi, Chtourou, Chaouachi, Dogui, Chamari, Souissi, & Amri, 2012).…”