Reference values for hand grip strength, muscle mass, walking time, and one-leg standing time as indices for locomotive syndrome and associated disability: the second survey of the ROAD study.

BACKGROUND: We established reference values for hand grip strength, muscle mass, walking time, and one-leg standing time as indices reflecting components of locomotive syndrome and associated disability using a large-scale population-based sample from the second survey of the Research on Osteoarthritis/Osteoporosis Against Disability (ROAD) cohort.
METHODS: We measured the above-mentioned indices in 2,468 individuals ≥ 40 years old (826 men, 1,642 women; mean age 71.8 years) during the second visit of the ROAD study. Disability was defined as certified disability according to the long-term care insurance system through public health centres of each municipality.
RESULTS: Mean values for hand grip strength (weaker side), muscle mass of the thighs, walking time for 6 m at the usual pace, and the fastest pace for men were 32.7 kg, 7.0 kg, 5.6 s, and 3.7 s, respectively, and those for women were 20.8 kg, 5.2 kg, 5.9 s, and 4.1 s, respectively. The median values for one-leg standing time (weaker side) were 14 s for men and 12 s for women. The prevalence of disability in men aged 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, and ≥ 80 was 0.0, 1.0, 6.3, and 8.8%, respectively, and in women was 3.4, 3.5, 9.2, and 14.7%, respectively. There were significant associations between the presence of disability and walking time for 6 m at the usual pace and at the fastest pace, and between the presence of disability and walking speed.
CONCLUSIONS: We established reference values for indices reflecting components of locomotive syndrome, and identified significant associations between walking ability and disability.