Assessment of reliability of the hand-held dynamometer for measuring strength in healthy older adults

A cross-sectional study of muscle strength in healthy older adults living in the community was carried out with the purpose of determining the reliability of the hand-held dynamometer. The sample consisted of 15 females and 5 males aged 60-84 years without any identifiable strength impairments. A standardized test protocol was used with two trials of both isometric and eccentric muscle strength in the elbow and knee extensors. Two 'make' and two 'break' tests were performed on the elbow extensors and knee extensors of each participant by each rater. Moderate inter-rater reliability coefficients for both muscle groups were found. Measurements of strength were more reliable in the upper extremity muscle group than in the lower extremity muscle group. We suggest some modifications to the test protocol for older adults which may produce greater reliability.