Volume 58, Issue 11 p. 2055-2062

Loss of Muscle Strength, Mass (Sarcopenia), and Quality (Specific Force) and Its Relationship with Functional Limitation and Physical Disability: The Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project

Noran N. Hairi MPH

Noran N. Hairi MPH

From the * Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Public Health; § Centre for Education and Research on Ageing and ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital; and # Institute of Bone and Joint Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Julius Center University of Malaya, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Search for more papers by this author
Robert G. Cumming PhD

Robert G. Cumming PhD

From the * Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Public Health; § Centre for Education and Research on Ageing and ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital; and # Institute of Bone and Joint Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Julius Center University of Malaya, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Search for more papers by this author
Vasi Naganathan PhD

Vasi Naganathan PhD

From the * Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Public Health; § Centre for Education and Research on Ageing and ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital; and # Institute of Bone and Joint Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Julius Center University of Malaya, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Search for more papers by this author
David J. Handelsman PhD

David J. Handelsman PhD

From the * Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Public Health; § Centre for Education and Research on Ageing and ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital; and # Institute of Bone and Joint Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Julius Center University of Malaya, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Search for more papers by this author
David G. Le Couteur PhD

David G. Le Couteur PhD

From the * Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Public Health; § Centre for Education and Research on Ageing and ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital; and # Institute of Bone and Joint Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Julius Center University of Malaya, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Search for more papers by this author
Helen Creasey MBBS

Helen Creasey MBBS

From the * Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Public Health; § Centre for Education and Research on Ageing and ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital; and # Institute of Bone and Joint Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Julius Center University of Malaya, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Search for more papers by this author
Louise M. Waite PhD

Louise M. Waite PhD

From the * Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Public Health; § Centre for Education and Research on Ageing and ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital; and # Institute of Bone and Joint Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Julius Center University of Malaya, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Search for more papers by this author
Markus J. Seibel MD, PhD

Markus J. Seibel MD, PhD

From the * Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Public Health; § Centre for Education and Research on Ageing and ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital; and # Institute of Bone and Joint Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Julius Center University of Malaya, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Search for more papers by this author
Philip N. Sambrook PhD

Philip N. Sambrook PhD

From the * Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Public Health; § Centre for Education and Research on Ageing and ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital; and # Institute of Bone and Joint Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Julius Center University of Malaya, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 04 November 2010
Citations: 352
Address correspondence to Noran N. Hairi, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between loss of muscle strength, mass, and quality and functional limitation and physical disability in older men.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of older men participating in the Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project (CHAMP).

SETTING: Elderly men living in a defined geographical region in Sydney, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS: One thousand seven hundred five community-dwelling men aged 70 and older who participated in the baseline assessments of CHAMP.

MEASUREMENTS: Upper and lower extremity strength were measured using dynamometers for grip and quadriceps strength. Appendicular skeletal lean mass was assessed using dual X-ray absorptiometry. Muscle quality was defined as the ratio of strength to mass in upper and lower extremities. For each parameter, subjects in the lowest 20% of the distribution were defined as below normal. Functional limitation was assessed according to self-report and objective lower extremity performance measures. Physical disability was measured according to self-report questionnaire.

RESULTS: After adjusting for important confounders, the prevalence ratio (PR) for poor quadriceps strength and self-reported functional limitation was 1.91 (95% confidence interval (CI)=1.10–2.40); for performance-based functional limitation the PR was 1.81 (95% CI=1.45–2.24). The adjusted PR for poor grip strength and physical disability in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) was 1.37 (95% CI=1.20–1.56). The adjusted PR for low skeletal lean mass (adjusted for fat mass) and physical disability in basic activities of daily living was 2.08 (95% CI=1.37–3.15). For muscle quality, the PR for lower extremity specific force and functional limitation and physical disability was stronger than upper extremity specific force.

CONCLUSION: Muscle strength is the single best measure of age-related muscle change and is associated with physical disability in IADLs and functional limitation.