Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Jan;40(1):14-23.
doi: 10.1093/ageing/afq117. Epub 2010 Sep 15.

Objective measures of physical capability and subsequent health: a systematic review

Rachel Cooper  1 , Diana Kuh, Cyrus Cooper, Catharine R Gale, Debbie A Lawlor, Fiona Matthews, Rebecca Hardy; FALCon and HALCyon Study Teams
Collaborators, Affiliations

Objective measures of physical capability and subsequent health: a systematic review

Rachel Cooper et al. Age Ageing. 2011 Jan.

Abstract

Background: measures of physical capability may be predictive of subsequent health, but existing published studies have not been systematically reviewed. We hypothesised that weaker grip strength, slower walking speed and chair rising and shorter standing balance time, in community-dwelling populations, would be associated with higher subsequent risk of fracture, cognitive outcomes, cardiovascular disease, hospitalisation and institutionalisation.

Methods: studies were identified through systematic searches of the electronic databases MEDLINE and EMBASE (to May 2009). Reference lists of eligible papers were also manually searched.

Results: twenty-four papers had examined the associations between at least one physical capability measure and one of the outcomes. As the physical capability measures and outcomes had been assessed and categorised in different ways in different studies, and there were differences in the potential confounding factors taken into account, this made it impossible to pool results. There were more studies examining fractures than other outcomes, and grip strength and walking speed were the most commonly examined capability measures. Most studies found that weaker grip strength and slower walking speed were associated with increased risk of future fractures and cognitive decline, but residual confounding may explain results in some studies. Associations between physical capability levels and the other specified outcomes have not been tested widely.

Conclusions: there is some evidence to suggest that objective measures of physical capability may be predictors of subsequent health in older community-dwelling populations. Most hypothesised associations have not been studied sufficiently to draw definitive conclusions suggesting the need for further research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram for identification of published studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cooper R, Kuh D, Hardy R, et al. Objectively measured physical capability levels and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br Med J. In press. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rantanen T. Muscle strength, disability and mortality. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2003;13:3–8. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0838.2003.00298.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bohannon RW. Hand-grip dynamometry predicts future outcomes in aging adults. J Geriatr Phys Ther. 2008;31:3–10. - PubMed
    1. Stroup DF, Berlin JA, Morton SC, et al. Meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology—a proposal for reporting. JAMA. 2000;283:2008–12. doi:10.1001/jama.283.15.2008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Albrand G, Munoz F, Sornay-Rendu E, et al. Independent predictors of all osteoporosis-related fractures in healthy postmenopausal women: the OFELY study. Bone. 2003;32:78–85. doi:10.1016/S8756-3282(02)00919-5. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types