Reliability of Lower Extremity Muscle Power and Functional Performance in Healthy, Older Women

Evaluation of the long-term reliability of muscle power and functional performance tests in older, healthy adults is warranted since determining whether performance is consistent over longer durations is more relevant for intervention studies. Objective. To assess the long-term test-retest reliability of measures of muscle power and lower body functional performance in healthy, nonexercising, older women. Methods. Data were derived from a nonexercising control group (n = 18; age = 73.3 (3.4) years; height = 159.6 (7.7) cm; body mass = 69.5 (12.7) kg; BMI = 27.3 (4.8)) of a randomized controlled trial of muscle power training in older women. Participants underwent lower extremity muscle power (Biodex) and functional testing (Short Physical Performance Battery, gait speed, 30-second chair stands, stair climbing, and 400-meter walk) at week 0 (baseline), 9, and 15. Results. For the upper leg, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were very high for knee extension power (0.90-0.97) and high to very high for knee flexion power (0.83-0.96). For lower-leg power, ICCs were high to very high for plantar flexion and dorsiflexion (0.83-0.96). ICCs for functional performance were moderate to very high (0.64-0.93). Coefficient of variation of the typical error (CV_TE) was <10.5% for knee extension/flexion power, 9.9-20.0% for plantar flexion/dorsiflexion power, and 1.9-14.9% for functional performance. Knee extension power and stair climb power demonstrated the highest reliability for muscle power and function, respectively. Mean values did not change over time, with the exception of the chair stands (p < 0.05); however, these changes were not considered clinically meaningful. Conclusions. The current study provides evidence supporting the long-term reliability of performance assessments of muscle power and lower body functional capacity over a period of up to 15 weeks in healthy, older women.