Low relative mechanical power in older adults: An operational definition and algorithm for its application in the clinical setting

The assessment and treatment of low relative muscle power in older people has received little attention in the clinical setting when compared to sarcopenia. Our main goal was to assess the associations of low relative power and sarcopenia with other negative outcomes in older people. Methods: The pa...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Losa Reyna, José, Alcázar Caminero, Julián, Rodríguez Gómez, Irene, Alfaro Acha, Ana, Alegre Durán, Luis María, Rodríguez Mañas, Leocadio, Ara Royo, Ignacio, García García, Francisco
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repositorio:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/26701
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10578/26701
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Sit-to-stand
Chair stand
Functional ability
Sarcopenia
Muscle power
Descripción
Sumario:The assessment and treatment of low relative muscle power in older people has received little attention in the clinical setting when compared to sarcopenia. Our main goal was to assess the associations of low relative power and sarcopenia with other negative outcomes in older people. Methods: The participants were 1189 subjects (54% women; 65–101 years old) from the Toledo Study for Healthy Aging. Probable sarcopenia was defined as having low handgrip strength, while confirmed sarcopenia also included low appendicular skeletal muscle index (assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) (EWGSOP2’s definition). Low relative (i.e. normalized to body mass) muscle power was assessed with the 5-repetition sit-tostand power test (which uses an equation that converts sit-to-stand performance into mechanical power) and diagnosed in those subjects in the lowest sex-specific tertile. Low usual gait speed (UGS), frailty (according to Fried’s criteria and the Frailty Trait Scale), limitations in basic (BADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and poor quality of life were also recorded. Results: Age-adjusted logistic regression analyses demonstrated that low relative muscle power was associated with low UGS (odds ratio (OR) = 1.9 and 2.5), frailty (OR = 3.9 and 4.7) and poor quality of life (OR = 1.8 and 1.9) in older men and women, respectively, and with limitations in BADL (OR = 1.6) and IADL (OR = 3.8) in older women (all p < 0.05). Confirmed sarcopenia was only associated with low UGS (OR = 2.5) and frailty (OR = 5.0) in older men, and with limitations in IADL in older women (OR = 4.3) (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Low relative muscle power had a greater clinical relevance than low handgrip strength and confirmed sarcopenia among older people. An operational definition and algorithm for low relative muscle power case finding in daily clinical practice was presented.