title: Association between walking ability and trunk and lower-limb muscle atrophy in institutionalized elderly women: a longitudinal pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to investigate the association between walking ability and muscle atrophy in the trunk and lower limbs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects in this longitudinal study were 21 elderly women who resided in nursing homes. The thicknesses of the following trunk and lower-limb muscles were measured using B-mode ultrasound: rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, transversus abdominis, erector spinae, lumbar multifidus, psoas major, gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, biceps femoris, gastrocnemius, soleus, and tibialis anterior. Maximum walking speed was used to represent walking ability. Maximum walking speed and muscle thickness were assessed before and after a 12-month period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 17 measured muscles of the trunk and lower limbs, age-related muscle atrophy in elderly women was greatest in the erector spinae, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and tibialis anterior muscles. Correlation coefficient analyses showed that only the rate of thinning of the vastus lateralis was significantly associated with the rate of decline in maximum walking speed (r = 0.518, p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This longitudinal study suggests that reduced walking ability may be associated with muscle atrophy in the trunk and lower limbs, especially in the vastus lateralis muscle, among frail elderly women.
authors: Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan. ikezoe@hs.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
authors: Tome
authors: T
authors: Ikezoe
authors: Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan. manakamu@mail.doshisha.ac.jp.
authors: Masatoshi
authors: M
authors: Nakamura
authors: Takeda Hospital, Kyoto, Japan. h-shima@takedahp.or.jp.
authors: Hiroto
authors: H
authors: Shima
authors: Graduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan. yasakawa@tmu.ac.jp.
authors: Yasuyoshi
authors: Y
authors: Asakawa
authors: Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan. ichihashi.noriaki.5z@kyoto-u.ac.jp.
authors: Noriaki
authors: N
authors: Ichihashi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014463:Ultrasonography; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*