posted on 2018-05-08, 05:00authored byAlexandra Mikó, László Pótó, Péter Mátrai, Péter Hegyi, Nóra Füredi, András Garami, Anita Illés, Margit Solymár, Áron Vincze, Márta Balaskó, Gabriella Pár, Patrícia Sarlós, Judit Bajor, Judit Tenk, Ildikó Rostás, Erika Pétervári
Forest plot representing the male minus female standardized differences in mean values of various muscle parameters (muscle mass/strength/function) in corresponding groups from the same studies. Squares show the difference in mean values with the grey area reflecting the weight assigned to the study. Horizontal bars indicate 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The diamond shows the overall effect size (ES) with the corresponding 95% CI. Subgroups in Ogawa et al. [43] are indicated with Arabic numerals. A: Grip strength; B: Chair stand test; C: 6-min walk; D: Lean mass; E: Up and go test; F: Muscle volume; G: Fat-free mass; H: Knee extension test; I: Thigh muscle area. Significantly higher muscle mass/strength/function was demonstrated in male than in female volunteers (i.e. positive standardized difference in mean values): ES = 1.82 with 95% CI (1.62, 2.02) p < 0.001. The heterogeneity of the data was high: p < 0.001, I2 = 95.4%. No small study effect was identified using Egger’s test: p = 0.163. (TIF 295 kb)