Muscle Quality, Strength, and Lower Extremity Physical Performance in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

Muscle quality is defined as the force generated by each volumetric unit of muscle tissue. No consensus exists on an optimal measure of muscle quality, impeding comparison across studies and implementation in clinical settings. It is unknown whether muscle quality measures that rely on complex and expensive tests, such as isokinetic dynamometry and computerized tomography correlate with lower extremity performance (LEP) any better than measures derived from simpler and less expensive tests, such as grip strength (Grip) and appendicular lean mass (ALM) assessed by DXA. Additionally, whether muscle quality is more strongly associated with LEP than strength has not been fully tested.