Static balance, quadriceps strength and ankle dorsifl exor torque in fertile and post-menopausal women

Abstract

Introduction: Menopause is the period of life in which women experience progressive changes in theirbody. Muscular strength and balance are important examples of changes occurring in this group of individuals.Objective: Evaluation and correlation of the static balance, quadriceps strength and ankle dorsifl exortorque in fertile (n = 20) and post-menopausal women (n = 45) were studied. Methods: A device wasused to record the ankle dorsifl exion torque and the quadriceps strength was measured according to theconcept of one repetition maximum. The assessment of the static balance was made with the Polhemussystem. Results: The control group presented ankle dorsifl exor torque and quadriceps strength greater thanthe post-menopausal women, but the static balance was not different between groups. In control group,correlation was observed only between quadriceps strength and using the fi xed platform with eyes closed.In the post-menopausal women there was a correlation between static balance and the ankle dorsifl exortorque in the fi xed platform with eyes open (r = 0.386; p = 0.008); fi xed platform with eyes closed(r = 0.373; p = 0.01) and unstable platform with eyes open (r = 0.343; p = 0.02). In this group correlationbetween static balance and quadriceps strength was observed in testing the use of fi xed platform witheyes closed (r = 0.315; p = 0.03). Conclusions: The results suggest that the diminished muscular strengthafter menopause seems to be related to the hypoestrogenism and that the ankle dorsifl exor torque is animportant factor for the maintenance of static balance in the fi rst years of menopause.