A hand-grip dynamometer was used to assess the magnitude and prevalence of grip strength impairments among 41 home-care patients with diverse diagnoses (e.g., stroke, cancer, fracture, osteoarthritis). Based on published reference values, patients (as a whole) were weaker than normal for age and sex. The prevalence of weakness was 85.4% on one or the other side and 70.7% on both sides. Considering the prognostic importance of grip strength, this study emphasized the potential value of its measurement in a home-care population.
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