Observational study: handgrip strength, body composition and diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Objective Previous studies have shown that relative handgrip strength, handgrip measure divided by body mass index (BMI), affects the future onset of diabetes and prediabetes. However, fat free mass (FFM) has been suggested to adjust for this effect better than BMI. In this study, we examined applicability of models that adjusted handgrip-diabetes relationship with either BMI or FFM. Results Of 1940 participants (56.2% male, average (SD) age, 57.2 [11.2] years), 267 (13.8%) had diabetes (DM) and 912 (47.0%) had prediabetes (pre-DM). The average handgrip measure for men was 40.0 kg (tertile measures, 37.4 kg and 42.5 kg) and for women 24.2 kg (tertile measures, 22.6 kg and 25.7 kg). Among both sexes, the percentage of people unaffected by DM or pre-DM was highest in the strong handgrip group and lowest in the weak handgrip group. Analysis using binary logistic models showed that an increase in handgrip measure was associated with a decrease in the chance of having either pre-DM or DM. This effect was detected by both BMI models and FFM models, even after adjustment for medical and lifestyle factors. Either or both should be used depending on the research aims, setting and methods.

Handgrip strength reference intervals in Swedish, young, healthy adults: The LBA study

“…In addition to height, the other anthropometric measurements, as well as hours of exercise per week, were independent predictors of HGS in the entire population (Table 3). These results concord with those of previous studies observing correlations between HGS and anthropometric measurements, such as height, BMI, and FFM [5,10,13]. Although statistically significant, the correlations were generally weak (Spearman's P < 0.3 and beta coefficients < 0.3 in the multivariable model).…”

“…FFM measures a different aspect of body composition than BMI, and is more affected by height [13]. Nonetheless, we observed the mean HGS in different tertiles of BMI and FFM to be very similar (Fig.…”

“…Although statistically significant, the correlations were generally weak (Spearman's P < 0.3 and beta coefficients < 0.3 in the multivariable model). FFM has been suggested to be a better predictor of diabetes and poor health than BMI [13], and, of all measurements included in this study, FFM was the only variable with a moderately strong correlation with HGS in terms of beta coefficient (0.40), as well as the highest R 2 (Table 3).…”

Water Intake and Handgrip Strength in US Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on NHANES 2011–2014 Data

“…Furthermore, the intake of scientific nutrients, including protein [33], fat [34,35], carbohydrates [36,37], energy [38], and sugar [39,40], plays a pivotal role in muscular development. Existing studies have affirmed that common societal chronic conditions, such as hypertension [41,42], hyperlipidemia [43][44][45], diabetes [46][47][48], and cancer [49], operate through distinct physiological pathways to mediate the decline in muscular strength and muscle mass.…”

Hearing loss and physical function in the general population: A cross-sectional study

“…The correlation matrix of multivariable parameter estimates was examined to determine if there were serious problems with multicollinearity. BMI was entered into the multivariable analysis because BMI affects physical function as well as hearing loss, and the association between physical function and BMI varies by sex (i.e., some men with high BMI have high muscle mass) [24][25][26]. Current smoking was added because it has been reported to be a risk factor for hearing loss [27] and physical function [28].…”