Eräät lihasten suorituskykymittaukset fyysisen toimintakykyisyyden kuvaajana suomalaisessa aikuisväestössä = Muscular performance as a determinant of physical ability in Finnish adult population

This study is a part of the so-called »Mini-Finland Health Survey», the aim of which was to evaluate the health situation, need för treatment and restrictions of working capacity and functional ability of Finnish adult population and which was carried out between 1977 and 1980. A total of 1100 examinees aged 30-65 years participated in the present study. It was a randomized subsample of the sample of the Mini-Finland Survey. The aim of the study was to measure in cross-section the physical ability of the population by using muscular performance tests, and to evaluate factors related to the level of muscular performance. From the results it is apparent that muscular performance is connected with the subjective physical ability of the examinees. Especially men showed a close relationship between muscular performance and ability to manage daily physical tasks. Of the measurements used, the hand grip test and abdominal muscle test gave the best basis för the assessment of physical ability. The muscular performance is best explained by sex and by age. The changes in muscular performance of men across the age groups differ from those of women. The overall muscular performance of men decreases with age quite linearly, while that of women does not decrease until after the age of 40-44 years. The muscular performance of women is about 40-100 % of the performance of men depending on the test and on the age group. The anthoropometric measurements used in this study do not explain the differences in muscular performance between men and women. Only the physically stressful activities of leisure time, but not of work, correlate with muscular performance.