Handgrip strength, depression, and all-cause mortality in Korean older adults

Abstract

Background Decreased muscle strength and/or depression with aging are emerging as important public health concerns in both developed and developing countries. This study investigated the effects of low handgrip strength (HGS) and depression on the risk of all-cause mortality in Korean older adults. Methods Data from 13,901 Korean adults (57% women) who participated in the 2008 baseline survey and completed the 2011 follow-up assessments were used. Results In total, the current findings showed that individuals with depression only and individuals with low HGS plus depression had significantly higher risks of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.366, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.033–1.807, p = 0.029 and HR = 1.961, 95% CI = 1.409–2.736, p < 0.001, respectively) even after adjustments for all the measured covariates, compared with individuals with high HGS plus no depression (HR = 1). Gender-stratified analysis showed that men with depression only and men with depression plus low HGS had significantly higher risks of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.376, 95% CI =1.029–1.841, p = 0.031 and HR = 1.861, 95% CI = 1.306–2.651, p = 0.001, respectively) even after adjustments for all the measured covariates, compared with individuals with no depression plus high HGS (HR = 1). In women, however, the joint effect of depression and low HGS only remained significant at borderline (HR = 2.603, 95% CI = 0.981–6.908, p = 0.055) when adjusted for all the confounders. Conclusion The current finding suggested that depression and low HGS were significantly and synergistically associated with the increased risk of premature death from all causes in the Korean geriatric population.

The Effect of Muscular Strength on Depression Symptoms in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Results demonstrated significant differences in all indicators of depression after completing 12 weeks of training [35], that low muscle strength increased depression symptomatology in patients with fibromyalgia [37], and that strength training intervention significantly decreased depressive symptoms [36]. The other observational studies showed that independently of sex, age, and country, depression symptoms were significantly associated with a reduced handgrip strength [11,21,22,24,[27][28][29][30][38][39][40]. Furthermore, adults in the lower tertile or quartile for muscle strength had a significantly higher risk for depressive symptoms compared with those in the third tertile or fourth quartile [23,25,26,31].…”

“…The seven studies not included were eliminated based on the heterogeneity of the association measure between muscular strength and depression symptoms. Two reported the comparison between the effect of high vs. low muscular strength on depression [29,30]; two reported the muscular strength difference between depressed vs. not depressed cases, and the other three reported results stratified by weight status or quartiles of muscular strength [31]. The homogeneity of the odds ratio of the studies included in the meta-analysis was assessed using I 2 statistics.…”

Trajectories of Handgrip Strength and Their Associations with Mortality among Older Adults in Korea: Analysis of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging

“…Wu et al [ 7 ] in 2017 found that HGS was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular diseases in a meta-analysis study of the relationship between HGS and all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in community-dwelling populations. Park et al [ 15 ] in 2019 assessed 13,901 persons from 2008 to 2011 for HGS, depression, and all-cause mortality and found that the risk of mortality was higher in the lower HGS group at the baseline. However, in these prospective studies, HGS was determined on the basis of measurements at baseline examination only.…”

Handgrip strength and its association with noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors among elderly individuals in Malaysia

“…We also found that the presence of depression was not signi cantly associated with HGS, and a signi cant but weak correlation was found between GDS and GHS. However, many studies have revealed a signi cant association between depression and HGS [33,54,55].…”