Abstract
Introduction:
The variables mass and skeletal muscle strength contribute to the diagnosis of sarcopenia.
Objective:
To evaluate the association between strength and skeletal muscle mass in hospitalized elderly persons.
Method:
A cross-sectional study was carried out in a private hospital in the city of Salvador in Bahia. The study included individuals ≥60 years during their first and fifth day of hospitalization and who were neither sedated nor had taken vasoactive drugs. Muscle mass was calculated using an anthropometric equation and force was measured through handgrip strength. Muscle weakness was identified as <20 kgf for women and <30 kgf for men, and reduced muscle mass was when the muscle mass index was ≤8.9 kg/m2 for men and ≤6.37 kg/m2 for women. The Pearson correlation was used to evaluate the relationship between mass and strength and the accuracy of using mass to predict strength.
Results:
In 110 patients included, there was a moderate correlation between mass and strength (R=0.691; p=0.001). However, the accuracy of using mass to predict muscle strength was low (accuracy=0.30; CI 95% = 0.19-0.41; p=0.001). The elderly patients with muscle weakness were older than those without muscle weakness, with no differences between the other variables.
Conclusion:
There is a linear relation between skeletal muscle mass and strength, but mass did not predict strength, which suggests that the two measures continue to perform independently.
Key words:
Muscle Strength; Muscle Skeletal; Elderly and Hospital.
