European journal of applied physiology
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Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. · Oct 2017
Increase in echo intensity and extracellular-to-intracellular water ratio is independently associated with muscle weakness in elderly women.
The changes in muscle composition and its heterogeneity during aging are associated with muscle weakness in elderly persons independent of decreases in muscle mass or muscle thickness (MT). Both the assessment of echo intensity (EI) with ultrasound imaging and the evaluation of the extracellular water/intracellular water (ECW/ICW) ratio with segmental bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS) are non-invasive and convenient methods and seem valuable for muscle quality determination. However, no previous study has evaluated both EI and the ECW/ICW ratio simultaneously to investigate their relationship to muscle strength. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether both EI and the ECW/ICW ratio are independently associated with muscle strength in elderly women. ⋯ This study suggests that the simultaneous application of EI and the ECW/ICW ratio is useful in assessing muscle strength, and accurately estimates the changes in muscle quality related to muscle weakness.