Motor Reaction Time, Sarcopenia and Functional Skills in Elderly Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

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IMPORTANCE: Aging generates changes over the years. Because of this, the musculoskeletal system is directly degraded and suffer deficits in its performance in elderly patients with Sarcopenia, as this condition is characterized by a decrease in muscle mass and function. OBJECTIVE: Correlate the motor reaction time and functional skills of non-sarcopenic, pre-sarcopenic and sarcopenic elderly women, and analyze influence on the risk of falls. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational analytical study, following the methodological strategies of STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology), carried out under the approval of the Research Ethics Committee of the Unievangélica University, no. 3.694.235/2019. SETTING: Participants were evaluated regarding: cognitive status, level of physical activity, fear of falling, body composition, motor reaction time, static and dynamic balance, gait kinetics, strength and endurance of the lower limbs and finally handgrip strength. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 59 volunteer elderly women were assessed following the diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia proposed by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP). RESULTS: The results show that there was a greater difference in motor reaction time between the non-sarcopenic and sarcopenic elderly women due to the executing organ being damaged by the presence of sarcopenia, causing motor response to slowdown. Functional deficit, fear of falling and greater risk of falls were observed in the sarcopenic group, under the harmful influence of increased motor reaction time. CONCLUSION: Sarcopenic elderly women present increased motor reaction time, that is, slowed motor responses due to decreased muscle mass, strength and impaired musculature, which generate functional deficits that contribute to an increased risk of falls.

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