Risk factors associated with low handgrip strength in the older Korean population

Abstract

Hand grip strength (HGS) is a means to assess health status and physical abilities indirectly. Various factors are known to be related to HGS, but data on the factors influencing HGS in the Korean population are lacking. Recently, the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed social status, nutrition, physical status, and other medical history including HGS. This study aimed to investigate the social, physical, and individual health behavior factors associated with low HGS in the elderly Korean population. This population-based cross-sectional study was based on the 2014–2016 KNHANES. Community-dwelling Korean elderly (aged ≥65 years) were included in this survey. The relationship between HGS and socioeconomic status, nutrition, exercise, and other clinical characteristics were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. The sample size was 3,634 (weighted: 6,006,406). Elderly men and women with low HGS showed lower body mass index, reduced physical activity and lower education level. Among elderly men, excessive carbohydrate and inadequate protein intake were observed in the low HGS group. Meanwhile, older women who did not drink alcohol and had diabetes were at higher risk of low HGS. In conclusion, various physical, nutritional, socioeconomic and comorbidity statuses were seemed to be the factors associated with HGS in Korean elderly. However, further cohort or case-control study will be necessary to determine the causal relationship of those factors and HGS.

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

“…Although excessive drinking has been shown to be associated with sarcopenia [24], light-to-moderate alcohol intake has also been shown to have a protective effect against muscle mass loss [25]. Similar ndings as those observed in this study were observed in a European and Koran study [26]. Further research is needed to ascertain the positive effects of alcohol consumption on HGS, in view of many other factors that can manipulate the result, such as the amount of alcohol, which was not measured in the study.…”

“…Perhaps this can be linked to other factors, such as occupation and physical activity of the smokers since most smokers comprised those with low socioeconomic status [27]. Although some studies have shown that smoking has negative effects on HGS [28,29], several other studies have shown mixed results on the effect of smoking [26,30]. Additionally, a study noted low HGS among smokers with COPD as a predictor of future acute respiratory events [31,32].…”

Association between Relative Handgrip Strength and Osteoporosis in Older Women: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2014–2018

“…Moreover, it is a particularly good and quick tool to assess muscle strength. 27) In this study, the prevalence of osteoporosis was significantly associated with left-hand RHGS in women aged 60-69 years after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, and other health-related variables in the KNHANES data from 2014 to 2018. Furthermore, the osteoporosis risks were decreased by approximately 36.3% and 50.4% in levels 2 and 4, respectively.…”

“…The covariates included in this study were identified by referring to previously reported factors associated with decreased HGS. 27 )…”

“…The covariates included in this study were identified by referring to previously reported factors associated with decreased HGS. 27) This study included the following baseline sociodemographic characteristics: age (60-69 and ≥ 70 years), income level (in quartiles), and education status (below elementary school, middle school graduate, high school graduate, and college graduate or above). There were also several variables related to health-related behaviors, including alcohol consumption classified into six categories (none, < 1/month, about 1/month, 2-4/month, 2-3/week or ≥ 4/week); smoking behavior classified into four categories (never, past smoking, smoking sometimes, or smoking daily); walking exercise indicated by three categories (never, 1-6 days/ week, or daily); muscle exercise divided into three categories (never, 1-4 days/week or ≥ 5 days/week); aerobic activity classified into two categories (yes or no); DM prevalence (yes or no); family medical history of hypertension (HTN) in the father, mother, brother, or sister (yes or no); and results of laboratory tests such as those of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and fasting blood sugar (FBS), cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT).…”