Longitudinal changes in muscle power compared to muscle strength and mass

Abstract

Objectives: The study reports longitudinal changes in grip strength, muscle mass and muscle power of lower extremities. The aim is to identify early muscular changes to improve the diagnosis and treatment of sarcopenia.

Methods: Grip strength was measured by hand dynamometer, muscle mass by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and muscle power by performing a chair rise test and two-leg jumps (2LJP) on the Leonardo Mechanograph^®. Longitudinal changes were analysed using paired t-tests by age group and sex. Differences between groups in terms of the annual change were tested by Analysis of Variance and the Dunnett's test. Comparisons between the variables were performed using one sample t-tests.

Results: Six-year changes were determined in 318 randomly selected healthy participants aged 20-90 years from Berlin. 2LJP declined significantly earlier in 20-39 years old women (-3.70 W/kg) and men (-5.97 W/kg, both p<0.001). This is an absolute annual decline of -0.46 W/kg in females and -0.75 W/kg in males. In the oldest age group, 2LJP showed the highest absolute annual loss with -0.99 W/kg in women and -0.88 W/kg in men. 2LJP was significantly different compared to all variables of muscle mass and strength (p<0.01).

Conclusions: The results underline the importance of assessing muscle power using 2LJP during aging.

Keywords: Aging; Longitudinal; Mechanography; Muscle Power; Sarcopenia.

Figure 1

Flowchart.

Figure 2

Individual absolute annual change in 2LJP, CRTP, grip strength, ASM/BMI and ASM/h² according to age and sex.

Figure 3a, b

Annual percentage change in females (a) and males (b). Values of p, one sample t-test between the mean of each age group of 2LJP with the same age group of each other variable: *** significant difference with p<0.001, compared to the same age group of 2LJP, ** significant difference with p<0.01 compared to the same age group of 2LJP.