title: Developing a measure of muscular power during a functional task for older adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Muscular power is an important aspect of many activities of daily living and declines at a faster rate than other fitness parameters (i.e. muscular strength and endurance). Assessing muscular power among older adults is problematic as many of the popular tests are contraindicated among older adults and field tests to assess muscular power among older adults have not been validated among older adults. Therefore, the aim of the present investigation was to determine the validity and reliability of a field test to measure of muscular power during a functional movement among community-dwelling older adults (≥ 65 years).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty community-dwelling older adults (71.6 ± 5.6) volunteered to have their muscular power assessed during repeated sit-to-stand (STS) tasks. Each participant performed 10 STS with 60 s rest between trials. Muscular power was assessed during this functional movement with the Tendo as well as change in center of mass (COM) over time using cinematography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Relative power measured by Tendo was 5.34 ± 1.67 W/kg and values for COM were 5.39 ± 1.73 W/kg (p = .86). Cronbach's alpha for Tendo muscular power for repeated trials was .98.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tendo is a simple field method of determining muscular power among older adults and validation is essential. Results from this investigation support Tendo as a valid and reliable method for determining muscular power during a STS task among older adults. Clinicians may use this tool to evaluate and assess progress in older adults' power and physical functioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Human Performance Laboratory, Office for Studies on Aging, University of Arkansas, HPER 309, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA. rgray@uark.edu.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paulson
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D053581:Muscle Strength Dynamometer; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results