Muscle Strength and Glycaemic Control among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of diabetes has been rising sharply since 1980, reaching 422 million cases worldwide in 2014. Physical activity and handgrip strength may be associated with good glycaemic control among patients with diabetes Objective: We tested the association between handgrip strength and glycemic control in type 2 diabetes patients, from National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey NHANES 2011-2014 and the contribution of the study covariates to this association. Hypothesis: Muscle strength is positively associated with glycemic control in type two diabetes. Methodology: This cross-sectional study examined the association between handgrip strength and glycaemic control among patients with diabetes. Data on 1058 participants aged 40 and older were collected from the NHANES. Muscle strength was assessed using a handgrip dynamometer, and blood samples were obtained to observe the glycaemic control values. Height, body weight, physical activity, insulin use, smoking status, alcohol use, participant demographics, and income-to-poverty ratio were all considered in the study. Results: logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between handgrip strength and poor glycaemic control among participants with diabetes. Three models were used, each model adjusted to include different variables. OR values revealed no association between handgrip strength and glycaemic control. However, model 2, which was adjusted for sedentary activity, income-topoverty ratio, education, and smoking, shows a trend towards an association. Patients in quartile 4 of handgrip had 0.59 odds of poor glycaemic control, OR = 0.59 (95% CI: 0.34–1.02). However, in model 3 this effect was diluted when further adjusted for insulin use, OR = 0.81 (95% CI: 0.47– 1.38). Further analysis was performed to examine the mean decline in handgrip strength among non-insulin and insulin users. Non-insulin users, both men and women, have higher handgrip strength as compared to insulin users. Conclusion: There was no association found between handgrip and glycaemic control among patients with diabetes.