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
Comparative Study
. 2018 Apr 2;19(1):96.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-018-2015-9.

Handgrip force steadiness in young and older adults: a reproducibility study

Andreas W Blomkvist  1 , Fredrik Eika  1 , Eling D de Bruin  2   3 , Stig Andersen  1 , Martin Jorgensen  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Handgrip force steadiness in young and older adults: a reproducibility study

Andreas W Blomkvist et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Force steadiness is a quantitative measure of the ability to control muscle tonus. It is an independent predictor of functional performance and has shown to correlate well with different degrees of motor impairment following stroke. Despite being clinically relevant, few studies have assessed the validity of measuring force steadiness. The aim of this study was to explore the reproducibility of handgrip force steadiness, and to assess age difference in steadiness.

Method: Intrarater reproducibility (the degree to which a rating gives consistent result on separate occasions) was investigated in a test-retest design with seven days between sessions. Ten young and thirty older adults were recruited and handgrip steadiness was tested at 5%, 10% and 25% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) using Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB). Coefficients of variation were calculated from the mean force produced (CVM) and the target force (CVT). Area between the force curve and the target force line (Area) was also calculated. For the older adults we explored reliability using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and agreement using standard error of measurement (SEM), limits of agreement (LOA) and smallest real difference (SRD).

Results: A systematic improvement in handgrip steadiness was found between sessions for all measures (CVM, CVT, Area). CVM and CVT at 5% of MVC showed good to high reliability, while Area had poor reliability for all percentages of MVC. Averaged ICC for CVM, CVT and Area was 0.815, 0.806 and 0.464, respectively. Averaged ICC on 5%, 10%, and 25% of MVC was 0.751, 0.667 and 0.668, respectively. Measures of agreement showed similar trends with better results for CVM and CVT than for Area. Young adults had better handgrip steadiness than older adults across all measures.

Conclusion: The CVM and CVT measures demonstrated good reproducibility at lower percentages of MVC using the WBB, and could become relevant measures in the clinical setting. The Area measure had poor reproducibility. Young adults have better handgrip steadiness than old adults.

Keywords: Force steadiness; Handgrip steadiness; Nintendo Wii balance board; Reliability; Reproducibility.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All participants gave oral consent and the protocol was reviewed and declared not mandatory for submission by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics in Norway (2016/1505/REK Nord).

The Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics in Norway reviewed the study protocol and declared it not mandatory for submission due to the ethically benign nature of the study. Even though the ethics committee did not need to approve the study, all participants were required to provide consent to participate in the study. Therefore, study participation was synonymous with documented consent. None of the authors had access to any personal or potentially identifying participant information. For practical purposes, and since written consent was not required, every participant provided oral consent.

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

AWB, FE, SA and EDB declare that they have no competing interests. MGJ developed and holds a patent on the software used in the study.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Participant seated and squeezing the upper left corner of the Nintendo Wii Balance Board
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Screenshot showing the force-time curve (black) and the target force line (yellow) in the FysioMeter software
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The raw test and retest data at 5 (blue), 10 (green) and 25% (red) of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) using the coefficient of variation calculated using mean force (CVM) as an example, for both dominant (right) and non-dominant (left) sides
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Christou EA. Aging and variability of voluntary contractions. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2011;39(2):77–84. doi: 10.1097/JES.0b013e31820b85ab. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hunter SK, Pereira HM, Keenan KG. The aging neuromuscular system and motor performance. J Appl Physiol. 2016;121(4):982–995. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00475.2016. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hyngstrom AS, Kuhnen HR, Kirking KM, Hunter SK. Functional implications of impaired control of submaximal hip flexion following stroke. Muscle Nerve. 2014;49(2):225–232. doi: 10.1002/mus.23886. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hyngstrom AS, Onushko T, Heitz RP, Rutkowski A, Hunter SK, Schmit BD. Stroke-related changes in neuromuscular fatigue of the hip flexors and functional implications. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2012;91(1):33–42. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0b013e31823caac0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lodha N, Naik SK, Coombes SA, Cauraugh JH. Force control and degree of motor impairments in chronic stroke. Clin Neurophysiol. 2010;121(11):1952–1961. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2010.04.005. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types