Relationship between Asymmetries and Functional Autonomy in Older Chilean Adults

Álvaro Huerta Ojeda (), Vanieska Toro-Zepeda, Emilio Jofré-Saldía, Maximiliano Bravo, Carol Parra, Gaspar Campos-Armijo, Carlos Jorquera-Aguilera, Makarena Albornoz Hernández, María-Mercedes Yeomans-Cabrera and Sergio Galdames Maliqueo
Additional contact information
Álvaro Huerta Ojeda: Núcleo de Investigación en Salud, Actividad Física y Deporte ISAFYD, Universidad de Las Américas, Viña del Mar 2531098, Chile
Vanieska Toro-Zepeda: Facultad de Ciencias, Escuela de Nutrición y Dietética, Magíster en Nutrición para la Actividad Física y el Deporte, Universidad Mayor, Santiago 8580745, Chile
Emilio Jofré-Saldía: Facultad de Educación y Ciencias Sociales, Instituto del Deporte y Bienestar, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago 7550000, Chile
Maximiliano Bravo: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Departamento de Geriatría, Hospital Carlos Van Buren, Valparaíso 2341131, Chile
Carol Parra: Laboratorio de Investigación en Nutrición y Alimentos (LINA), Departamento de Salud, Comunidad y Gestión, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile
Gaspar Campos-Armijo: Núcleo de Investigación en Salud, Actividad Física y Deporte ISAFYD, Universidad de Las Américas, Viña del Mar 2531098, Chile
Carlos Jorquera-Aguilera: Facultad de Ciencias, Escuela de Nutrición y Dietética, Universidad Mayor, Santiago 8580745, Chile
Makarena Albornoz Hernández: Facultad Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte, Universidad de Playa Ancha de Ciencias de la Educación, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile
María-Mercedes Yeomans-Cabrera: Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Las Américas, Viña del Mar 2531098, Chile
Sergio Galdames Maliqueo: Facultad Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte, Universidad de Playa Ancha de Ciencias de la Educación, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-12

Abstract: The objectives of this study were: (a) to determine asymmetries, both lower limb (LL) and upper limb (UL), in Chilean older adults, and (b) to relate asymmetries to FA in both LL and UL. Forty-one older adults voluntarily participated in this study (mean ± standard deviation [SD]: age 72.0 ± 8.0 years, LL asymmetries 13.78 ± 14.87%, UL asymmetries 10.70 ± 8.85%, FA 40.35 ± 16.26 points). The variables were: (1) asymmetries of LL and UL, assessed through a force platform and handgrip, respectively; (2) FA, assessed through the Latin American Group for Maturity (GDLAM) and the GDLAM index of autonomy (GI) protocol. The relationship between the variables was performed through Spearman’s correlation. The analysis showed that 39% of the participants presented asymmetries above 15% in the LL. Likewise, this 39% of older adults presented a lower FA than their peers with asymmetries below 15% in the LL (≤15%: 35.64 ± 12.26 points vs. >15%: 47.69 ± 19.23 points, p = 0.003). The analysis showed a small correlation between LL and GI asymmetries ( r = 0.27, p = 0.07) and a small but negative correlation between UL and GI ( r = −0.21). The mean values of asymmetries of both LL and UL are within ‘normal’ parameters. However, several older adults were identified as being at risk. In parallel, older adults who presented a higher level of asymmetries in LL showed a lower level of FA.

Keywords: asymmetries; functional autonomy; Latin American Group for maturity protocol; older people (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15063/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15063/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:15063-:d:973924

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().