Objective: Hand grip strength can provide an objective index of general upper strength, but hand dynamometer has not been validated for use in Colombia. The objective was to determine the interchangeability between Camry electronic and Jamar hydraulic hand grip dynamometers in a population found on the campus of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and the elderly living in a community. Methods: This was a cross-sectional concordance study on 18-88-year-old males and females. Data regarding their demographics, health, and anthropometric variables were collected/measured and the Lin concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) along with Bland-Altman plots were used for evaluating concordance regarding both devices. Results: One hundred and thirty-three subjects participated in this study (average age 47±20.74 years-old). Right hand (RH) grip strength was 32.15 ± 9.96 kg with the Jamar dynamometer and 29.95 ± 9.18 kg with the Camry device. It is worth highlighting that the Jamar instrument presents higher values than the Camry instrument (p <0.05). CCC was only significant at the population level and for the 40-59-year-old age group. Bland-Altman plots had narrow limits of agreement. Conclusion: We concluded that the Camry dynamometer could replace the Jamar dynamometer in the 40-59-year-old age group; furthermore, it would be appropriate for medical use in patient monitoring or follow-up due to the close values observed.

The prevalence of malnutrition in homes for the elderly is well-known, yet research does not exist concerning differences among types of homes. In this study, the association of nutritional status (measured with MNA-FV and anthropometric measures) with the type of home for the elderly (charity, government, private) was evaluated. A cross-sectional study in adults >60 years was carried out. Student's t, U of Mann-Whitney, ANOVA, or Kruskal Wallis test with statistical significance p<0.05 were used for statistical analysis. In the study, 152 elderly (95 female) persons with an average age of 81.4 years (SD 7.82) participated; 59.6% had a normal nutritional status and 45.3% had a normal BMI. Malnutrition, risk of malnutrition and low calf circumference were associated with private homes (p<0.05). We concluded that nutritional status varies by type of home and this nutritional profile possibly depends on criteria used to admit persons into each type of facility.