Association between activity impairment due to physical illness and grip strength using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between limitations in activity due to physical disease and grip strength. Methods This is secondary data that analyzed raw data from Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The subjects ranged in age from their 30s to their 80s, and the reasons for activity limitations included fractures and joint injuries, arthritis and rheumatism, stroke, back problems, and knee and leg pain. Results There were 430 people (6.6%) with activity limitations due to physical diseases, including 168 men (5.9%) and 262 women (7.3%), and 4776 people (93.4%) had no activity limitations. Among the reasons for activity limitations, back and neck problems were the highest at 35.3%, and stroke was the lowest at 4.8%. There was no difference in grip strength depending on whether activity was restricted due to fractures, joint injuries, or back and neck problems. When arthritis was the reason for activity limitations, the grip strength of the right hand decreased 21.70 times and the grip strength of the left hand decreased 20.39 times compared to cases with no activity restrictions. In cases where back and neck problems were the reason for activity limitations, only left hand grip strength decreased by 2.25 times compared to cases where there were no activity limitations. no activity limitations. Conclusion In cases where physical disease was the reason for activity limitation, the correlation between the type of disease and grip strength was highest in arthritis.