[Isometric muscle strength measurements and assessment: a pilot study].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the anthropometric parameters and the isometric muscle strength in a working population sample in China, and to investigate the relationship between muscle strength and individual attributes, such as age, gender, height and weight.


METHODS
The study population consisted of 146 male and 47 female people including workers, administrators and college students. Four types of muscle strength, i.e., handgrip, arm lift, shoulder lift, and torso pull, were measured.


RESULTS
Left handgrip, right handgrip, arm lift, shoulder lift and torso pull of male workers were (42.07 +/- 7.20), (43.92 +/- 7.14), (26.79 +/- 4.64), (33.79 +/- 6.88), (88.56 +/- 17.98) kg, respectively while those of female workers were (21.29 +/- 5.09), (23.26 +/- 5.47), (13.29 +/- 3.37), (18.52 +/- 4.01), (41.06 +/- 12.04) kg, respectively. The female's strength was about 50% lower than the male's. The strength in the 40 approximately years old group was higher than that in other age groups. There were significant positive correlation between the gender and the isometric strength as well as between the body weight and the isometric strength. If the body weight served as the corrected parameter, there was no significant difference in the handgrip among the groups (P < 0.05), but the torso pull of male workers > college students > administrators. All relative muscle strengths except the torso pull were similar for all age groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The body weight as the independent variable can be used for establishing the predictive equation of the muscle strength. Calculation of the relative muscle strength can relieve the interference of the body weight for the muscle strength.
Xiao
Guo-bing
GB
Ningbo Municipal Agency for Public Health Inspection, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315010, China.
Lei
Ling
L
Dempsey
Patrick G
PG
Lu
Bei-bei
BB
Liang
You-xin
YX
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D053581:Muscle Strength Dynamometer; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014152:Transactional Analysis; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation