Grip Strength and Gait Speed of Older Women Receiving Physical Therapy in a Home-Care Setting

Grip strength and gait speed have both been recommended as "vital signs" for older adults. I, therefore, sought to determine the extent to which grip strength and comfortable gait speed were limited and related in a sample of older women home-care patients. A retrospective analysis was conducted using archived initial therapy records of 33 older women (mean age = 80.7 years) residing in their homes in New England (USA). Demographics, bilateral grip strength and usual gait speed data were extracted from the records. Best grip strength was 80.1% of its reference norm. Usual gait speed was 38.4% of its reference norm. Significantly more patients were below reference norm for gait speed. Both measures were significantly less than functional standards as well. The measures were not correlated significantly. Grip strength and gait speed are sensitive to limitations in older women home-care patients, but not equally so.