title: Relationships of age and sex with range of motion of seventeen joint actions in humans.
abstract: This study investigated the relationship of age and sex with the range of motion of seventeen joint actions at eight joints. A sample of 190 male and female subjects ranging in age from 18 to 88 years were measured using a modified version of Leighton's (1942) procedures. The data were analyzed to obtain test-retest reliability, to determine significant differences in flexibility across age, and to assess sex differences in flexibility. The following conclusions were made: a general decline in flexibility of joints occurs with age; upper extremity joints do not readily reflect this decreased flexibility with age; the configuration of flexibility is specific to the joint action and; females have greater flexibility than males throughout life.
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints / Q000502:physiology*; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors