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Age-related changes in pressure pain threshold, grip strength and touch pressure threshold in upper extremities of older adults

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Abstract

Background and aims: Hand function weakens with age in both men and women, especially after the age of 65. As the number of older people increases, more older adults may have sensorimotor impairment, which affects upper extremity (UE) performance and thus independence in the activities of daily life. The purpose of this study was to detect and evaluate the impact of age on pressure pain threshold (PPT), touch/pressure threshold and grip strength in the decades after the age of 60. Methods: The study was carried out with the participation of older adults living in the Izmir Geriatric Centre. Older adults were subdivided into three age groups and 128 subjects (47 male, 81 female) were selected systematically as one out of every three individuals in each group (group 1: 60 to 69; group 2: 70 to 79; group 3: 80 or over). Touch/pressure threshold test, pressure pain threshold (PPT) test and grip strength measurement were performed on dominant and non-dominant hands. Results: It was found out that touch/pressure thresholds increased with age, but the change was not statistically significant between the three age groups. PPT and grip strength of dominant and non-dominant hands decreased from groups 1 to 3, but analysis indicated that these declines were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Despite the fact that age-related sensorimotor changes are not statistically significant, a reduction is seen in sensorimotor parameters after the age of 60.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DEU Health Science Institute Physiotherapy Program, Turkey

    Hülya Donat

  2. DEU School of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Turkey

    Ay§e Özcan PhD, PT & Mehtap Özdirenç

  3. DEU Department of Community Science, Turkey

    Gazanfer Aksakoğlu

  4. Izmir Geriatric Centre, Izmir, Turkey

    Saniye Aydinoğlu

Authors
  1. Hülya Donat
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  2. Ay§e Özcan PhD, PT
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  3. Mehtap Özdirenç
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  4. Gazanfer Aksakoğlu
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  5. Saniye Aydinoğlu
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Correspondence to Ay§e Özcan PhD, PT.

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Donat, H., Özcan, A., Özdirenç, M. et al. Age-related changes in pressure pain threshold, grip strength and touch pressure threshold in upper extremities of older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 17, 380–384 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03324626

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03324626

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