Cut Points for Clinical Muscle Weakness Among Older Americans.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Muscle weakness is an important indicator of disability, chronic disease, and early mortality. Grip strength is a simple, cost-effective measure of overall muscle strength. The Foundation of the National Institutes of Health recently proposed sex-specific grip strength cut points for clinical muscle weakness. However, these criteria were established using non-nationally representative data. This study used nationally representative data on Americans aged ≥65 years to identify race- and sex-specific cut points for clinical muscle weakness and quantify prevalence among older blacks and whites by sex.

Methods

Classification and Regression Tree models were used to identify cut points based on individual-level grip strength associated with slow gait speed (<0.8 m/sec

SUBMITTER: Duchowny KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5497994 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature