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Published on: July 5, 2017
The relationship between muscle quality and physical activity intensity among older adults living in the community: A
Yuta Kubo1, Daiki Nakashima2, Naoki Tomiyama3
1Faculty of Informatics, Department of Socio-Information Studies, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, Japan.
Aim:
To determine the relationship between muscle quality and physical activity intensity among older adults living in the community using objective measures.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted with community-dwelling individuals aged 65 years or older. Gastrocnemius echo intensity was measured as a muscle quality assessment, and accelerometer-measured physical activity and demographic data were collected. Echo intensity was measured at a point located 30 % of the distance between the crease of the knee joint and the inner ankle, and calculated using gray-scale analysis. Physical activity was classified as low-intensity physical activity in the range of 1.6 to 2.9 metabolic equivalent of task units, and moderate to high-intensity physical activity at 3 metabolic equivalent of task units or higher. Demographic data included age, sex, and nutritional status. The association between physical activity and echo intensity was investigated using multiple regression analysis.
Results:
Data were analyzed for 97 participants (mean age 77.67 years, standard deviation 5.28 years). The analysis showed that time in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity was associated with better muscle quality (B = -0.10, β = -0.24, p = 0.03, 95 % confidence interval = -0.19 to -0.01), and time in light-intensity physical activity was associated with lower muscle quality (B = 0.03, β = 0.22, p = 0.047, 95 % confidence interval = 0.0004 to 0.05).
Conclusion:
In community-dwelling older adults, low-intensity physical activity was associated with poorer muscle quality, whereas moderate-to-high-intensity physical activity was associated with better muscle quality.
