Background and Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between handgrip strength (HGS) and quality of life (QOL) in patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Materials and Methods: We enrolled 13,966 from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2015 to 2018. All participants underwent the health-related QOL assessment using the European Quality of Life Scale-Five dimensions (EQ-5D) and measured the HGS. The weak HGS was defined as the lowest quartile. We investigated the difference in QOL between patients with arthritis and the healthy control group and evaluated the correlation between weak HGS and QOL in arthritis patients. Results: Those diagnosed with OA or RA had significantly lower QOL than healthy controls. The weak HGS was significantly correlated with lower QOL in arthritis patients. Among OA patients, those with weak HGS revealed significantly higher odds ratios for impairment in all dimensions of EQ-5D. RA patients with weak HGS had significantly higher odds ratios for impairment in dimensions of mobility, self-care, usual activity, and pain/discomfort than those with normal HGS. Conclusions: These results suggest that weak HGS is significantly associated with decreased QOL in patients with arthritis.

No abstract

Background: Although the pulse pressure (PP) is an independent predictor of coronary heart disease (CHD), many physicians disregard its importance and there have been no recent studies on Korean elderly. We investigated the association between PP and CHD in Korean elderly through the nationwide, observational study. Methods:This study included 4100 subjects aged ≥65 years from the 7th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016)(2017)(2018). Pulse pressure was calculated as the difference between the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and the diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and high PP was defined as ≥60 mmHg. Subjects diagnosed with angina pectoris or myocardial infarction were classified into the CHD group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between PP and CHD.Results: Among the subjects, the incidence of high PP was higher in women, while CHD was higher in men. Subjects with high PP were older, had higher SBP, lower DBP and higher FBG compared to subjects with normal PP. After adjustment for multiple covariates, participants with high PP had a higher risk for incidence of CHD with an OR of 1.361 (95% of CI: 1.077-1.719). Conclusions:In this study, we found the significant association between PP and CHD in Korean elderly.