A review of the measurement of grip strength in clinical and epidemiological studies: towards a standardised approach
A review of the measurement of grip strength in clinical and epidemiological studies: towards a standardised approach
Background: the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People has developed a clinical definition of sarcopenia based on low muscle mass and reduced muscle function (strength or performance). Grip strength is recommended as a good simple measure of muscle strength when ‘measured in standard conditions’. However, standard conditions remain to be defined.
Methods: a literature search was conducted to review articles describing the measurement of grip strength listed in Medline, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases up to 31 December 2009.
Results: there is wide variability in the choice of equipment and protocol for measuring grip strength. The Jamar hand dynamometer is the most widely used instrument with established test–retest, inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. However, there is considerable variation in how it is used and studies often provide insufficient information on the protocol followed making comparisons difficult. There is evidence that variation in approach can affect the values recorded. Furthermore, reported summary measures of grip strength vary widely including maximum or mean value, from one, two or three attempts, with either hand or the dominant hand alone.
Conclusions: there is considerable variation in current methods of assessing grip strength which makes comparison between studies difficult. A standardised method would enable more consistent measurement of grip strength and better assessment of sarcopenia. Our approach is described.
423-429
Roberts, Helen C.
5ea688b1-ef7a-4173-9da0-26290e18f253
Denison, Hayley J.
65475cfd-bdb1-4b02-844e-b2e8f0b1ac46
Martin, Helen J.
147af305-a2fb-4ed5-a1fb-5453af49cb60
Patel, Harnish P.
e1c0826f-d14e-49f3-8049-5b945d185523
Syddall, Holly
a0181a93-8fc3-4998-a996-7963f0128328
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Sayer, Avan Aihie
fb4c2053-6d51-4fc1-9489-c3cb431b0ffb
July 2011
Roberts, Helen C.
5ea688b1-ef7a-4173-9da0-26290e18f253
Denison, Hayley J.
65475cfd-bdb1-4b02-844e-b2e8f0b1ac46
Martin, Helen J.
147af305-a2fb-4ed5-a1fb-5453af49cb60
Patel, Harnish P.
e1c0826f-d14e-49f3-8049-5b945d185523
Syddall, Holly
a0181a93-8fc3-4998-a996-7963f0128328
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Sayer, Avan Aihie
fb4c2053-6d51-4fc1-9489-c3cb431b0ffb
Roberts, Helen C., Denison, Hayley J., Martin, Helen J., Patel, Harnish P., Syddall, Holly, Cooper, Cyrus and Sayer, Avan Aihie
(2011)
A review of the measurement of grip strength in clinical and epidemiological studies: towards a standardised approach.
Age and Ageing, 40 (4), .
(doi:10.1093/ageing/afr051).
Abstract
Background: the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People has developed a clinical definition of sarcopenia based on low muscle mass and reduced muscle function (strength or performance). Grip strength is recommended as a good simple measure of muscle strength when ‘measured in standard conditions’. However, standard conditions remain to be defined.
Methods: a literature search was conducted to review articles describing the measurement of grip strength listed in Medline, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases up to 31 December 2009.
Results: there is wide variability in the choice of equipment and protocol for measuring grip strength. The Jamar hand dynamometer is the most widely used instrument with established test–retest, inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. However, there is considerable variation in how it is used and studies often provide insufficient information on the protocol followed making comparisons difficult. There is evidence that variation in approach can affect the values recorded. Furthermore, reported summary measures of grip strength vary widely including maximum or mean value, from one, two or three attempts, with either hand or the dominant hand alone.
Conclusions: there is considerable variation in current methods of assessing grip strength which makes comparison between studies difficult. A standardised method would enable more consistent measurement of grip strength and better assessment of sarcopenia. Our approach is described.
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: March 2011
e-pub ahead of print date: 30 May 2011
Published date: July 2011
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 182405
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/182405
ISSN: 0002-0729
PURE UUID: 89303572-0ce5-4d1f-8562-0601161844de
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Date deposited: 26 Apr 2011 14:27
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:05
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Contributors
Author:
Hayley J. Denison
Author:
Helen J. Martin
Author:
Harnish P. Patel
Author:
Avan Aihie Sayer
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