背景與目的：本實驗目的為比較年輕人與老年人之握力及蹠屈肌力的差異及性別與慣用肢側對肌力的影響。方法：本實驗共有62名健康受試者，以手持握力器測量最大握力，並依據徒手肌力測量教科書建議之標準姿勢，記錄單腳站立姿勢下之最大踮腳尖的次數。結果：本實驗中30名年輕組（平均26.6歲）及32名老年組（平均72.6歲）之男性握力皆顯著大於女性，慣用側的握力皆顯著大於非慣用側，而且年輕組之差異均大於老年組之差異。年輕組踮腳尖次數（平均值＝17.9次，中位數＝18次）顯著多於老年組（平均值＝5.8次，中位數＝3.5次）(P<0.05)，轉換為徒手肌力測量的等級結果後，年輕組慣用側蹠屈肌力為正常級者佔47%、良好級佔26.5%、普通級佔26.5%；老年組慣用側蹠屈肌力為正常級者佔6%、良好級佔3%、普通級佔91%。結論：老年人與年輕人之肌力有顯著不同，依目前的給分標準會使得91%的老年人之蹠屈肌力皆列為普通級，因此使得現行之肌力分級法較不具區辨力。

Purposes: The purposes of this study were: (1) to compare the grip strength and plantaflexor strength between young and old adults by using clinical muscle testing techniques; (2) to examine the effects of gender and limb dominance on muscle strength; (3) to examine the correlation of the grip and plantarflexor strength; and (4) to investigate the
distribution of grades of plantaflexor muscle strength in the old adults. Methods: Thirty young adults (average=26.6 years; 15 males, 15 females) and 32 old adults (average=72.6 years, 16 males, 16 females) participated in this study. Grip strength was measured using a hand-held grip dynamometer Each subject made three maximal voluntary contractions, and the average score was calculated for each hand. Plantaflexor muscle strength was measured with the standing heel-rise test, and the number of repetitions of heel-rise was recorded for each leg. Results: Male subjects showed greater grip strength than females, and the difference w as more obvious in the young adults than in the old adults. The grip strength of the dominant side was greater than that of the non-dominant side, and the difference was more obvious in the young adults than in the old adults. The number of heel-rises of the young adults (mean=l7.9 repetitions, median=l8 repetitions) was significantly higher than that of the old adults (mean=5.8 repetitions, median=5.8 repetitions, p<0.05). There was significant but weak correlation between the grip strength and plantarflexor strength (r=0.3; p<0.05). When the number of heel-rises was converted into the grades of the manual muscle testing, 91% of the old adults were given the fair grade (1 to 10 repetitions). Conclusions: Significant differences in grip and plantaflexor muscle strength were found between young and old adults. The majority of the old adults were ranked the same manual muscle grades for the plantaflexor muscle. It is recommended that the number of heel rises be used in place of manual muscle testing grades for the plantaflexor muscle in the old adults.