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Alternatives for measuring knee extension strength of the elderly at home

Department of Physical Therapy, School of Allied Health, University of Connecticut and Department of Rehabilitation, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Objective: To examine the construct validity of three measures of knee extension strength obtained from elderly individuals.

Design: Retrospective and cross-sectional.

Setting: Home care.

Subjects: Forty-one consecutively treated patients (mean age 79.2 years).

Measures: Knee extension strength was measured using manual muscle testing, hand-held dynamometry, and the sit-to-stand test.

Results: Convergent construct validity was supported by the significant correlations between the measures (r_s = 0.578–0.702). Discriminant construct validity was confirmed by the finding of significant differences in the manual muscle test scores and in the hand-held dynamometer measures of patients who were unable versus able to stand from a chair without the upper extremities or help. The sensitivity of the two measures for discriminating between patients able versus unable to stand from a chair was 90.9% for manual testing and 68.2% for dynamometry. The specificity was 78.9% for manual testing and 94.7% for dynamometry.

Conclusion: The results of this study show that the three measures employed to characterize knee extension strength are valid when employed with elderly patients in a home care setting.

Clinical Rehabilitation, Vol. 12, No. 5, 434-440 (1998)
DOI: 10.1191/026921598673062266


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