TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Static one-leg standing balance test as a screening tool for low muscle mass in healthy elderly women JO - Aging clinical and experimental research A1 - Khanal, Praval A1 - He, Lingxiao A1 - Stebbings, Georgina K. A1 - Onambele-Pearson, Gladys L. A1 - Degens, Hans A1 - Williams, Alun G. A1 - Thomis, Martine A1 - Morse, Christopher I. SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - BACKGROUND: Identification of simple screening tools for detecting lower skeletal muscle mass may be beneficial for planning effective interventions in the elderly. AIMS: We aimed to (1) establish a threshold for one-leg standing balance test (OLST) time for low muscle mass, and (2) test the ability of that threshold to assess muscular impairments in a poor balance group.

METHODS: Eyes-open OLST (maximum duration 30 s) was performed with right and left legs in 291 women (age 71 ± 6 years). OLST time was calculated as the sum of the OLST time of right and left legs. Fat-free mass (FFM), skeletal muscle mass (SMM), fat mass, biceps brachii and vastus lateralis sizes; handgrip strength (HGS), elbow flexion maximum torque (MVC(EF)) and knee extension maximum torque (MVC(KE)) were measured. Muscle quality was calculated as MVC(KE)/FFM and physical activity was assessed by questionnaire. Low muscle mass was defined as SMM(relative) of 22.1%, a previously established threshold for pre-sarcopenia.

RESULTS: The OLST threshold time to detect low muscle mass was 55 s (sensitivity: 0.63; specificity: 0.60). The poor balance group (OLST < 55 s) had higher fat mass (3.0%, p < 0.001), larger VL thickness (5.1%, p = 0.016), and lower HGS (- 10.2%, p < 0.001), MVC(EF) (- 8.2%, p = 0.003), MVC(KE) (- 9.5%, p = 0.012), MVC(KE)/FFM (- 11.0%, p = 0.004) and physical activity (- 8.0%, p = 0.024) compared to the normal balance group. While after adjusting age, the differences exist for HGS, fat mass and VL thickness only.

DISCUSSION: An OLST threshold of 55 s calculated as the summed score from both legs discriminated pre-sarcopenic characteristics among active, community-dwelling older women with limited potential (sensitivity 0.63, specificity 0.60).

CONCLUSION: OLST, which can be performed easily in community settings without the need for more complex muscle mass measurement, may help identify women at risk of developing sarcopenia.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1594-0667 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40520-021-01818-x ID - ref1 ER -