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Norms for grip strength in children aged 4-16 years
1Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University, Sweden. charlotte.hager-ross@physiother.umu.se
Insights
This study provides grip strength norms for children aged 4-16. Boys show greater strength than girls after age 10, and strength correlates with body measurements.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric physical assessment
- Human biomechanics
- Child development
Background:
- Grip strength is a key indicator of overall health and functional capacity in children.
- Establishing normative data is crucial for identifying deviations from typical development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish reference values for grip strength in a Swedish pediatric population aged 4-16 years.
- To investigate the influence of age, gender, and anthropometric factors on grip strength.
Main Methods:
- Grip strength was measured using the Grippit instrument in 530 Swedish children (4-16 years).
- Peak and sustained grip strength were recorded over a 10-second period.
- Correlations with anthropometric measures (weight, height, hand length) were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Grip strength increased with age, with boys becoming significantly stronger than girls after age 10.
- Grip strength showed strong positive correlations with weight, height, and hand length.
- Right-handed children exhibited greater strength in their dominant hand, unlike left-handed children.
Conclusions:
- Normative data for grip strength in children aged 4-16 years were established.
- These data provide a valuable tool for clinicians to assess and compare pediatric grip strength based on age, gender, handedness, and body measures.
Unlabelled:
The aim of this study was to provide norms for grip strength in children. A total of 530 Swedish 4-16-y-olds was tested with the instrument Grippit. The instrument estimates peak grip strength over a 10s period, and sustained grip strength averaged across the 10s. The increase in grip strength with age was approximately parallel for boys and girls until 10 y of age, after which boys were significantly stronger than girls. Strong correlations existed between grip strength and the anthropometric measures weight, height and, in particular, hand length. Right-handed children were significantly stronger in their dominant hand, while left-handers did not show any strength difference between the hands. It is therefore suggested that when evaluating grip strength in left-handed children both hands should be assumed to be about equally strong, while right-handed children are expected to be up to 10% stronger with their right hand. Sustained grip strength was consistently about 80-85% of peak grip strength, with somewhat lower values in younger children. The present normative data for peak grip strength were slightly lower than 1980s' data from the USA and Australia, probably because of divergences in age grouping and in instruments used.
Conclusion:
Norms for grip strength including estimates of variation were provided for children aged 4-16 y. These data will enable therapists and physicians to compare a patient's score with the scores of normally developed children according to age, gender, handedness and body measures.
