Fatigability of the dorsiflexors and associations among multiple domains of motor function in young and old adults

Declines in neuromuscular function, including measures of mobility, muscle strength, steadiness, and patterns of muscle activation, accompany advancing age and are often associated with reduced quality of life and mortality. Paradoxically, older adults are less fatigable than young adults in some tasks. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of age on fatigability of the dorsiflexors and to evaluate the ecological validity of this test by comparing it to motor function subdomains known to decline with advancing age. The community-dwelling older adults (n = 52, 75.2 ± 6.0 years) were more fatigable than young adults (n = 26, 22.2 ± 3.7 years), as assessed by endurance time for supporting a submaximal load (20% of one-repetition maximum; 1-RM) with an isometric contraction of the dorsiflexor muscles (8.9 ± 0.6 min and 15.5 ± 0.9 min, p < 0.001), including participants matched for 1-RM load and sex (Y: 13.3 ± 4.0 min, O: 8.5 ± 6.1 min, n = 11 pairs, 6 women, p < 0.05). When the older adults were separated into two groups (65-75 and 76-90 years), however, only endurance time for the oldest group was less than that for the other two groups (p < 0.01). All measures of motor function were significantly correlated (all p < 0.05) with dorsiflexor endurance time for the older adults, and multiple regression analysis revealed that the variance in endurance time was most closely associated with age, steadiness, and knee flexor strength (R2 = 0.50, p < 0.001). These findings indicate that dorsiflexor fatigability provides a valid biomarker of motor function in older adults.