Relationship between Plantar Flexor Muscle Strength and Standing Heel Rise Test in Community-dwelling Elderly

Abstract

Background and Objective: The important risk factor of fall is reducing of muscle strength and power. Beside knee extensor, the ankle plantar flexor is essential for balancing. Therefore, the assessment of plantar flexor muscle strength and power is very important. This study aim to evaluate the relationship between standing heel raise test and plantar flexor muscle strength measured by standard equipment  Method: Fifty-six healthy elders who aged more than 60 years (mean age 66.09±7.05 years) were performed standing heel raise test and plantar flexor muscle strength measured by Push-pull dynamometer. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the relationship between each variable. Results: The results showed that plantar flexor muscle strength had significantly moderate correlation with time, repetition and power of standing heel raise test (r = -0.460, 0.420 and 0.563, respectively, p-value < 0.01). Conclusion: The standing heel raise test could be valid assessment for ankle plantar flexor strength in elderly.Standing heel raise test