title: [Handgrip strength and physical activity in frail elderly].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between handgrip strength (HS) and physical activity in physical frailty elderly.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional quantitative study with a sample of 203 elderly calculated based on the population estimated proportion. Tests were applied to detect cognitive impairment and assessment of physical frailty. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis by binary logistic regression were used, and also Student's t-test and Fisher's exact test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 99 (64.3%) elderly showed decreased handgrip strength and 90 (58.4%) elderly presented decrease in physical activity levels. There was a statistically significant difference between these two components (p=0.019), in which elderly who have decreased HS have lower levels of physical activity. For low levels of physical activity and decreased HS, there was no evidence of significant difference in the probability of the classification as frail elderly (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The components handgrip strength and physical activity are associated with the frail elderly. The joint presence of low levels of physical activity and decreased handgrip strength leads to a significantly higher probability of the elderly to be categorized as frailty.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Helena
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lenardt
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Angélica
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Binotto
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Nathalia Hammerschmidt Kolb
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Carneiro
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Clovis
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cechinel
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Susanne Elero
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Betiolli
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tânia Maria
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lourenço
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity