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BACKGROUND: Among older adults, decreased handgrip strength is associated with greater risk of frailty, and loss of physical function, mobility, lean mass, and overall muscular strength and power. Frailty is also associated with sarcopenia, for which handgrip strength measurement has been recommended for diagnostic purposes. Specific cutoff points for diagnosis have been identified, but use of different devices may affect measurement. Therefore to assess validity and reliability, we compared the two most frequently used devices, the Jamar hydraulic and Smedley spring handgrip dynamometers. METHODS: Sixty-seven older (76.2 ± 0.9 years) men (n = 34) and women (n = 33) completed two trials of handgrip strength measurement on sequential days (T1, T2) using both devices in random order. Intraclass correlations were used to assess test-retest reliability, and Bland-Altman analysis was used to assess validity as the level of agreement between devices. RESULTS: There were significant (p 75 years) participants, differences between devices were closer to zero for both measurements compared to men and young-old (65-75 years) participants. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that despite excellent reliability, there is poor agreement between devices, indicating a lack of validity. For use as a diagnostic tool, standardization and device-specific cutoff points for handgrip dynamometry are needed.
Benton et al. (Tue,) studied this question.