Isokinetic performance of knee flexor and extensor muscles in community-dwelling elderly women

Abstract

Introduction The isokinetic dynamometer enables accurate assessment of muscle function. In Brazil, few studies have assessed the isokinetic muscle performance in older adults making interpretation and comparison of results with other studies.Objectives To conduct a descriptive analysis of the performance of the muscle flexor and extensor muscles of the knee joint in elderly community and compare the performance between the age groups 65-74 years and 75 years or more.Methods This is a cross sectional observational study with a convenience sample of 229 elderly community. For the analysis of muscle performance was used isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex System 3 Pro™) in the angular velocities of 60 °/s and 180 °/s. The variables evaluated were peak torque, peak torque normalized by body weight, total work normalized by body mass, total work, average power and agonist/antagonist ratio. Descriptive analysis was used to characterize the sample. For comparison between age groups was used Student's t-test with α = 0.05.Results The elderly women with older age showed a statistically significant decrease in most of the variables (p < 0.05) except for the agonist and antagonist knee (p = 0.398).Conclusions The isokinetic was a sensitive tool to characterize the modifications caused by aging on muscle function. Elderly with results below the lower limits of the confidence intervals for all variables certainly has a decreased strength for the age group evaluated and must be addressed therapeutically. The results can be used as a benchmark in clinical practice and future research.

Agonist/Antagonist Ratio for ankle joint is similar between active and inactive older adults compared to hip and knee joints

“…For example, Chandran et al (2019) analyzed muscle active in walking and stairs activities and the present study analyzed lower limbs movements in dynamometer isokinetic. Felício et al (2015) 22 analyzed the performance of the knee joint muscles in groups of older women in the community and compared between the ages of 65 to 74 years and 75 years or older; the results showed that muscle aging impacted the PT of these two groups, in which the younger group obtained a higher value in relation to the older one for 60 and 180°/s velocities. Thus, the authors identified that there was no difference in AAR for both velocities, pointing out that values below 40% indicate the predominance of extensor muscles or flexor muscles deficit, which may represent a knee joint imbalance.…”

Impact of Association between Functional Training and Respiratory Muscle Training in Elderly: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The peak torque represents the point of highest torque (muscle strength) in the range of motion, that is, the value corresponding to the maximum functional muscle strength associating power to the highest speed. Felicio et al (2015) [25] evaluated muscle function using the isokinetic dynamometer at angular velocities of elderly women to compare performance between different age groups. They observed that the elderly with a greater age range presented worse results in the variables when compared to the younger ones, confirming that with age there is a greater tendency towards a decrease in muscular function, even amongst active individuals.…”