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Muscle thickness contribution to sit-to-stand ability in institutionalized older adults

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Abstract

Background

Ultrasound is a low-cost, safe and accessible tool to use on muscle mass assessment. The relations between muscle thickness and lower limb function have not been investigated in institutionalized elderly people.

Aim

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the associations among sit-to-stand capacity, ultrasound-measured rectus femoris muscle thickness, hand grip strength and anthropometrics in a population of institutionalized older adults.

Methods

Twelve older adults (nine women and three men, mean age ± SD 86 ± 7 years, body mass index 24 ± 3 kg/m2) participated in this cross-sectional study. Sit-to-stand capacity using five-repetition sit-to-stand test, rectus femoris muscle thickness using B-mode ultrasonography, handgrip and anthropometric were measured. The relationships of the variables were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis.

Results

Significant bivariate correlations were found between rectus femoris muscle thickness and sit-to-stand test (p < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed associations between rectus femoris muscle thickness and sit-to-stand test, after adjusting by body mass index and age (p < 0.0001).

Discussion

Rectus femoris thickness in contraction adjusted by body mass index and age was predictors of physical performance. The independent variables shared 78.6% of variance in the sit-to-stand test.

Conclusions

Rectus femoris muscle thickness measured with ultrasonography, body mass index and age could explain functionality in institutionalized older adults measured by five-repetition sit-to-stand test.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the individuals who participated in this study.

Funding

This work was partial financial supported by the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for Higher Education Program (Key Action 203) [Grant number: 2018-1-PL01-KA203-051055].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidad de Málaga, IBIMA, Málaga, Spain

    A. Mateos-Angulo & A. I. Cuesta-Vargas

  2. MOVE-IT Research Group and Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Cádiz University, Avda. Ana de Viya, 52, 11009, Cadiz, Spain

    A. Galán-Mercant

  3. Biomedical Research and Innovation Institute of Cádiz (INiBICA) Research Unit, Puerta del Mar University Hospital University of Cádiz, Cadiz, Spain

    A. Galán-Mercant

  4. School of Clinical Sciences of the Faculty of Health at the Queensland, University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

    A. I. Cuesta-Vargas

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  1. A. Mateos-Angulo
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  3. A. I. Cuesta-Vargas
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Contributions

Each author contributed individually and significantly to the development of this article. Substantial contribution in the conception or design of the study, or the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of the study; writing or critically reviewing the article and its intellectual content; final approval of the version of the manuscript to be published; agreeing to take responsibility for all aspects of the study, in the sense of guaranteeing that any issues related to the integrity or precision of any portion of the study were duly studied and resolved.

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Correspondence to A. Galán-Mercant.

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The study has been approved by the appropriate institutional research ethics committee and has been performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Mateos-Angulo, A., Galán-Mercant, A. & Cuesta-Vargas, A.I. Muscle thickness contribution to sit-to-stand ability in institutionalized older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 32, 1477–1483 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-019-01328-x

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