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Effects of Age and Sex on the Results of an Ankle Plantar-Flexor Manual Muscle Test

MH Jan, PT, MS, is Associate Professor, School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
HM Chai, PT, PhD, is Lecturer, School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
YF Lin, MD, is Orthopaedic Surgeon, Taipei City Hospital, and a doctoral student, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
JCH Lin, PT, MS, is a doctoral student, Department of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif
LY Tsai, PT, MS, and YC Ou, PT, MS, are Senior Physical Therapists, Department of Physical Therapy, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
DH Lin, MD, is Orthopaedic Surgeon, Department of Orthopaedics, En Chu Kong Hospital, Taiwan (mhjan{at}ntu.edu.tw)

Address all correspondence to Dr Lin

Background and Purpose. The ability to perform 20 or more one-leg heel-rises is considered a "normal" grade for muscle strength (force-generating capacity of muscle) of the ankle plantar flexors, regardless of age and sex. Because muscle strength is closely related to age and sex, the "normal" test criterion was re-evaluated in different groups categorized by age and sex. Subjects and Methods. One hundred eighty sedentary volunteers (21–80 years of age) without lower-limb lesions performed as many repetitions of one-leg heel-rise as possible. Lunsford and Perry criteria were used to determine completion of the test. Results. The age and sex of the participants influenced the maximal repetitions of heel-rise, and the repetitions decreased with age and in female subjects. Discussion and Conclusion. The muscle strength of the ankle plantar flexors, as measured by manual muscle testing, varied with age and sex. Clinicians should consider the variances of age and sex when they perform manual muscle testing of the ankle plantar flexors.

Key Words: Aging • Heel-rise • Manual muscle test • Plantar flexor

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