Relation of functional capacity, strength and muscle mass in elderly women with osteopenia and osteoporosis

This study aimed at analyzing the association among functional ability tests, performance of knee muscles, and body composition of elderly women with low bone densities. A transverse study with 48 elderly women (aged 70.62±5.95 years) was developed, and their functional abilities were evaluated (Timed Up and Go - TUG - and Chair Stand - CST - tests), as well as their knee muscle performance (isokinetic dynamometer), their muscle mass (skeletal muscle index with BIA), and their lean mass (skin folds). The majority of the sample was active or moderately active (95.8%), was found to be overweight (68.75%), was not found to have sarcopenia (62.5%), and had average performances of 7.7 seconds in TUG and 11.21 seconds in CST. The functional ability was found to have moderate and low negative correlations with the knee muscle performance variables. Their muscle mass was found to have a low positive correlation with the power of knee extensor muscles and it was found to have no correlation with the functional ability, which was only found to have an association with the muscle performance, which reinforces how unreliable it is to use muscle mass as the single measurement for the identification of sarcopenia.