Hand grip strength in the elderly with upper limbs pain

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hand grip strength is extremely important to perform daily life activities, such as holding objects, using a handrail or bus supports, carry out domestic tasks, self-care activities, that is, to maintain functionality and independence. This study aimed at evaluating hand grip strength of elderly people with pain in upper limbs. METHODS: The sample was made up of 119 elderly who were divided by gender, being 19 males and 100 females. General mean age was 67.93 years, mean age of males was 67.58 years and mean age of females was 68 years. The elderly were submitted to evaluation with Kratos ® dynamometer. RESULTS: All studied individuals are right-handed and there is a higher prevalence of females. When hand grip strength was compared among genders with no pain, there has been stronger right hand strength and when it was compared between genders with pain, this has influenced the strength of both hands, being muscle strength stronger in males. CONCLUSION: After analyzing sample results, it was observed that pain has influenced hand grip strength being that male elderly people had stronger muscle strength as compared to females.

Handgrip Strength and Its Associated Factors among Community-dwelling Elderly in Sri Lanka: A Cross-sectional Study

“…Our findings are in good agreement with other studies. Male participants had greater HGS than females, which is in line with many previous studies [1,5,14]. Males have more lean muscle mass justified by higher concentration of anabolic hormones, such as testosterone, which contributes to growth of lean muscle mass by stimulating muscle protein synthesis, that contribute to the greater strength than females [15].…”

“…HGS is associated independently with disability in daily living and gait speed (mobility-related items) and quality of life [4,5]. HGS is an excellent indicator of nutritional status as well as a riskstratifying method for all-cause death and cardiovascular disease including increased health recovery time after illness or surgery [1].…”

Efeitos da cinesioterapia sobre a força de preensão palmar e a qualidade de vida de um idoso longevo com esclerose sistêmica: relato de caso

“…Verificou-se que a média de FPP para os homens com dor era de 22,2 kg para a mão direita e 21,6 kg para a mão esquerda, enquanto para os homens sem dor a média era de 25,4 kg para a mão direita e 23,0 kg para a mão esquerda, demonstrando diferença estatisticamente significativa 21 . Nota-se que a presença de dor crônica pode interferir na FPP, uma vez que os resultados obtidos nos indivíduos com dor são semelhantes aos valores encontrados na avaliação realizada antes das intervenções fisioterapêuticas do presente estudo.…”

“…Ainda, o mesmo autor demonstrou que os idosos longevos (80 anos ou mais), com ou sem dor nos membros superiores apresentavam FPP de 14,9 kg em ambas as mãos 21 . Apesar disso, o indivíduo do estudo atual, que era longevo, apresentou valores de FPP superiores aos idosos longevos do estudo, mesmo na fase pré intervenção.…”

Hand Grip Strength in Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Females

“…HGS, as a physiological variable, is influenced by a gamut of factors not limited to socio-demographic (17,18), anthropometric and morphologic (19)(20)(21), and pathophysiologic (22,23) variables. There is substantial evidence in the literature indicating higher preponderance of poor HGS among females compared with males (24)(25)(26)(27)(28).…”