The Relationship of Grip Strength to Gait Patterns of Older People

老年人手握力測試與步態之相關性

林珮欣(Pay-Shin Lin) ； Jessie M. VanSwearingen

《中華民國物理治療學會雜誌》 18卷2期 (1993/09) Pp. 177-190

https://doi.org/10.29616/JPTAROC.199309.0006

摘要

大體而育，老年人之許多生理及行為表現皆不同於年輕人，老年人之步態表現亦與年輕人有些差異。相較於年輕人，其較明顯之步態特徵大致為：步行速度變慢、步幅變短、行進間兩腳同時著地之期間變長(in-crease in double support time)及各步伐間之變異性(variability)變大。然而在曾經有過跌倒紀錄的老年人，這些步態上的變化將較相對較健壯之老年人來得更顯著。下肢肌力不足似乎是引起這些步態上變化的一個主要因素。本文作者意欲尋求一簡易之測量以期可早期偵測出老年人步態之改變，而知是否有跌倒之危險性。根據本研究將檢測老年人手握力與步態之相關性，以期經由手握力之測試得知步態改變之情形。本研究之受試者為11位年齡由64至96歲之男性，他們皆選取自美國匹茲堡榮民醫學中心之「老人研究計畫」中之受試者。實驗過程中，經由量測腳印法及手握力機之測量，取得受試者之步行速度、步幅長度、步寬及手握力。經採用皮爾森相關係數法之分析，結果顯示手握力與步行速度，手握力與步幅長度及步行速度與步幅長度皆有高度之相關。唯手握力與步寬並無相關。故而本研究之結論為：老年人手握力之測試與其步行速度及步幅長度有顯著相關性。此外本文亦對受試者之特性及其測量值之結果皆作一定性之討論。

關鍵字

步態 ； 手握力測試 ； 老人 ； 老化

並列摘要

The gait pattern of older people can be characterized as decreases in walking velocity, stride length, and increase in double support time. The changes of gait pattern in older people who fall is even more obvious than the relatively healthy elderly. Weakness of lower extremity muscles seems to be an important factor in these changes. The authors intended to find a simple and easy measurement to detect the early sign of gait pattern changes, and thus risk for falls in older people. Grip strength measure was reported to be a relative measure of general body muscle strength. Relationships between grip strength and walking velocity, stride length, and stride width were examined in the present study.
The gait and grip strength of eleven male subjects aged from 64 to 96 years (mean=78, SD=8) from the population seen in the ”Geriatric Evaluation and Management (GEM) project” at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Pittsburgh were measured by footprint method and hand dynamometer. The Pearson's product moment correlation was applied for the data analyses. Both adjusted (grip strength measures adjusted to weight, gait parameters to height) and unadjusted data were analyzed. The results showed high correlation between grip strength and walking velocity (r=0.738, p=0.007), grip strength and stride length (r=0.758, p=0.005), and walking velocity and stride length (r=0.908, p＜0.001) of the adjusted data. Therefore, measures of grip strength were associated with changes in the gait pattern of older people was concluded. In addition, discussions about the demographic data and measurement results of the subjects were provided. Further study with an increase in the sample size in order to enable the conduction of quantitative analyses and establishment of predictive equations was suggested.

並列關鍵字

Gait pattern ； Grip strength measure ； Older people ； Aging