Age-related changes in upper extremity performance of elderly people: A longitudinal study

The objective of this research was to study age-related changes in the uppe r extremity performance of healthy community-dwelling elderly people, by us ing a longitudinal design. In 1995-1996, gross and fine: manual dexterity, global performance, motor coordination, grip strength, tactile recognition, two-point discrimination. touch/pressure threshold, and tactile localizati on of 264 of the 360 subjects initially evaluated in 1992-1993 were reevalu ated by using the same upper extremity measuring instruments. Those who did not participate (n = 96) were found to be significantly different from tho se who participated in the longitudinal study. Although the survivors were younger, more active, and perceived themselves in better health than the no nparticipants, their upper extremity performance significantly decreased in the 3-year period, with a few exceptions. In general, the decline was rela ted to the initial score but not to age. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.