| Abstrakt: |
Background: Men and women lose muscle and function as they age, yet not always at the same rate. Aims: The aim of this study was to identify any gender-based differences in muscle quality of adults over 55 years. Methods: Nineteen men [mean ± SD: age (years): 69.3 ± 6.3; height (cm): 176.6 ± 7.5; mass (kg): 82.0 ± 15.0] and 19 age-matched women [age (years): 69.3 ± 6.2; height (cm): 160.2 ± 7.8; mass (kg): 71.0 ± 11.9] completed strength, functional assessments, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Independent t-tests between gender, and correlations between muscle quality and functional assessments were performed. Results: Gender-based differences in absolute arm (2.7 kg, p < 0.01) and leg lean mass (7.3 kg, p < 0.01) and absolute upper (22.7 kg, p < 0.01) and lower body strength (76.9 kg, p < 0.01) existed. However, these differences disappeared when upper and lower body relative strength or muscle quality was addressed (p > 0.05). Additionally, there were weak yet significant correlations between muscle quality and respective function of the upper and lower body for both men and women (r = -0.181 to -0.437, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Strength measurement should be consistently monitored in this population as these data suggest the evaluation of these muscular similarities can provide useful insight to age-related functional deficits, such as indication of sarcopenia onset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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