Hand-grip strength predicts incident disability in non-disabled older men

Abstract

Objectives: to verify if hand-grip performance in older men is a predictor of disability. Design: population-based prospective study. Setting: a sample from the Italian rural cohorts of the FINE study (Finland, Italy, Netherlands Elderly), representative of the general population of elderly men surveyed in 1991 and 1995. Participants: 140 men aged 71-91 years who reported no disability in performing activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activity of daily living (IADLs) and mobility activities at baseline examination and provided information on their functional status at follow-up 4 years later. Measurements: disability was defined as needing help in performing ADLs, IADLs and mobility. Hand-grip strength was evaluated at baseline by a mechanical dynamometer. Results: after adjusting for potential confounding variables, a lower concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was the only factor predicting disability in men aged 76 years or younger and only reduced hand-grip strength predicted incident disability in men 77 years or older. Conclusion: poor hand strength as measured by hand-grip is a predictor of disability in older people. The handgrip test is an easy and inexpensive screening tool to identify elderly people at risk of disability.

A força de preensão manual é boa preditora do desempenho funcional de idosos frágeis: um estudo correlacional múltiplo

“…Em contrapartida, Rantanen et al (3) , em estudo clássico, utilizando como amostra 6089 homens com idades entre 45 e 68 anos, verificaram que a FPM serviu como boa marcadora para limitações funcionais e incapacidades de forma geral. Resultados similares foram relatados por Giampaoli et al (25) , em uma amostra sensivelmente mais idosa composta por 140 sujeitos com idades entre 71 a 91 anos. Enfim, Avlund et al (26) verificaram, em 480 sujeitos septuagenários, que a FPM se correlacionava de maneira com o desempenho nas atividades do dia a dia.…”

Sex Differences in Health and Survival

“…Moreover, handgrip strength has been found to be associated with disability at older ages (Giampaoli et al 1999;Rantanen et al 1999;Taekema et al 2010), cognitive decline (Alfaro-Acha et al 2006), and hospitalization (Cawthon et al 2009). While there is compelling evidence that men outperform women on handgrip tests at all ages and across all continents (Bohannon et al 2006;Dodds et al 2014;Leong et al 2015), the magnitude of the male advantage appears to vary across national populations, ethnicities, and age groups.…”

Comparison of quadriceps strength and handgrip strength in their association with health outcomes in older adults in primary care

“…In clinical practice, handgrip strength is often used as a surrogate measure representative of the sarcopenic condition, as measuring handgrip strength is a simple, accessible, and inexpensive method to use (Cruz-Jentoft et al 2010). Handgrip strength has been shown to associate with several adverse health outcomes in the elderly, including functional impairment (Femia et al 1997;Giampaoli et al 1999;Hairi et al 2010;Rantanen et al 1994), morbidity (Rantanen et al 1998), hospitalization (Cawthon et al 2009) and mortality (Laukkanen et al 1995;Newman et al 2006;Rantanen et al 2003).…”