Associative study between handgrip strength, body composition and functional fitness in healthy elderlies

Poor handgrip strength is associated with [1,2]. As far as our understanding goes, [1] elderly’s disability independent elderlies trend to have high levels of quality of life . Even more, body composition and functional fitness presents [2] association with quality of life . OBJECTIVE: Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the associations between body composition, functional fitness and handgrip strength. METHODS: It was hypothesized that handgrip strength is associated with elderly’s body composition and functional fitness. Forty-eight elderly subjects (10 males and 38 females) with 69.61 (± 4.21) years old volunteered for this study. All the procedures were in accord to the Helsinki’s declaration regarding human research. The handgrip strength was measured with a digital mechanical dynamometer (CAMRY, New York, USA). The functional fitness was assessed by the functional fitness [3] test . The body composition was evaluated by a bioimpedance balance (Tanita, BC-601, Illinois, USA). The spearmen’s test allowed to assess the significant associations between the handgrip strength, functional fitness and body composition.