Association of handgrip strength with the prevalence of hypertension in a Chinese Han population

Abstract

Objective Handgrip strength (HGS) exercise has been reported to reduce blood pressure in both hypertensive and normotensive patients. In this study, we evaluated the association of HGS with hypertension in a Chinese Han Population. Methods A total of 11,151 subjects mainly consisting of a rural population were recruited with a multi-stage sampling method in Jurong city, Jiangsu Province, China. Besides hypertension and diabetes, major chronic diseases were excluded. HGS was categorized into tertiles by age and gender. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association of HGS and hypertension with the odds ratio ( OR ) and 95% confidence interval ( CI ). Results From low to high tertiles of HGS, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was significantly increased (74.52 ± 7.39, 74.70 ± 7.03, and 75.54 ± 7.01 mmHg, respectively; P trend = 0.001), as well as in females ( P trend = 0.003). The differences in DBP among the tertiles of HGS were still significant in females even after adjusting for covariates ( P trend = 0.048). No significant differences in systolic blood pressure (SBP) were observed among the tertiles of HGS ( P >0.05). Compared to low HGS, high HGS was significantly associated with hypertension after adjustment for age and gender (adjusted OR , 1.19; 95% CI , 1.06–1.34; P =0.004). A stratified analysis showed that the significant association of high HGS and hypertension was also observed with the following factors even after adjusting for age and gender: female gender (adjusted OR , 1.25; 95% CI, 1.08–1.46; P =0.004), ages of 60–69 years (adjusted OR , 1.29; 95% CI, 1.06–1.57; P =0.011), and married (adjusted OR , 1.20; 95% CI, 1.06–1.37; P =0.005). However, no significant associations were found after adjusting for age, gender, smoking status, drinking status, body mass index, physical activity level, glucose, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglyceride ( P >0.05). Conclusion The findings of the current study suggest that HGS was positively correlated with DBP in a rural population, and high HGS was associated with hypertension in females; however, the association may be modified by smoking status, drinking status, body mass index, physical activity, cholesterol level, and glucose level. Further utilization of HGS exercises to intervene in the development and prognosis of hypertension ...

Association between relative handgrip strength and hypertension in Chinese adults: An analysis of four successive national surveys with 712,442 individuals (2000-2014)

“…Two cross-sectional studies conducted in Western countries (the Netherlands and the USA) indicated that increased absolute HS was associated with higher blood pressure in the general population [ 10 , 11 ]. We found only one relevant study conducted in rural areas in China, reporting that increased absolute HS was associated with a higher risk of hypertension in women [ 12 ].…”

The Importance of Cardiorespiratory vs. Muscular Fitness in Reducing the Odds of Hypertension in War Veterans: A Population-Based Study

“…Another study aimed to examine the associations between CRF, and elevated blood pressure showed that participants in the highest CRF tertile had the lowest blood pressure values [12]. Similar associations have been obtained for musculoskeletal fitness (MF), where higher levels of MF are consistently associated with lower prevalence of hypertension in both longitudinal [16] and cross-sectional studies [17,18]. In addition, the inverse associations between CRF and MF and cardiovascular risk were partially explained by the associations between fitness and fatness [8,12].…”

“…Although health-benefits of PA on hypertension are well-known [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], the evidence has been provided regarding the associations between various physical fitness components and hypertension [ 8 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. A longitudinal study by Carnethon et al [ 8 ] showed that during the 15-year period, participants with low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF; <20th percentile) were 3- to 6-fold more likely to develop hypertension, compared to the participants with high CRF (≥60th percentile).…”

Chronic kidney disease: prevalence and association with handgrip strength in a cross-sectional study

“…A standard questionnaire was used to collect detailed information, including demographic characteristics (age and sex), medical history (hypertension and diabetes), personal behavior (smoking and drinking status), and Physical Activity Index (PAI) values [ 19 ], which were described in a previous study [ 20 ]. All the participants were interviewed face-to-face by trained staff, and once the interview was completed, the questionnaires were double-checked to ensure the accuracy of the information.…”