title: Maximal isometric muscle strength values obtained By hand-held dynamometry in children between 6 and 15 years of age.
abstract: In this study we aimed to determine the maximal isometric muscle strength of a healthy, normal-weight, pediatric population between 6 and 15 years of age using hand-held dynamometry to establish strength reference values. The secondary objective was determining the relationship between strength and anthropometric parameters.
  
  
  
  Four hundred normal-weight Chilean children, split into 10 age groups, separated by 1-year intervals, were evaluated. Each age group included between 35 and 55 children.
  
  
  
  The strength values increased with increasing age and weight, with a correlation of 0.83 for age and 0.82 for weight. The results were similar to those reported in previous studies regarding the relationships among strength, age, and anthropometric parameters, but the reported strength differed.
  
  
  
  These results provide normal strength parameters for healthy and normal-weight Chilean children between 6 and 15 years of age and highlight the relevance of ethnicity in defining reference values for muscle strength in a pediatric population. Muscle Nerve 55: 16-22, 2017.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Neurology Unit, Division of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.|Pediatric Neurorehabilitation and Neuromuscular Disease Laboratory, Clinical Hospital, Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Raul G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Escobar
authors.affiliation: School of Kinesiology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.|Pediatric Neurorehabilitation and Neuromuscular Disease Laboratory, Clinical Hospital, Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Karin T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Munoz
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Angelica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dominguez
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Neurorehabilitation and Neuromuscular Disease Laboratory, Clinical Hospital, Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Banados
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Neurorehabilitation and Neuromuscular Disease Laboratory, Clinical Hospital, Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bravo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D053581:Muscle Strength Dynamometer; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: children; ethnic factor; hand-held dynamometry; isometric contraction; muscle strength; reference values