Relationship Between Handgrip Strength and the Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus Among Korean Adults: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2014-2018

Abstract

PURPOSE: The study aimed to examine whether handgrip strength (HGS) expressed as absolute or relative to body weight is associated with fasting glucose (FG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in different age categories.METHODS:A total of 28,129 adults from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2014-2018 was analyzed. To examine the relationship between HGS and variables related to DM, participants were categorized into three groups according to their HGS (Tertile). Then, participants were further categorized into six groups according to their age. One-way ANOVA and logistic regression analyses were performed.RESULTS: Compared with participants in the upper tertile of absolute handgrip strength (AHGS), those in the lower tertile were older, shorter and heavier and also had higher FG and HbA1c. When age was adjusted, the prevalence of DM was 1.19 times (95% CI: 1.03-1.38) higher among men in the lowest tertile of AHGS. On the other hand, compared with participants in the highest tertile of relative handgrip strength (RHGS), those in the lowest tertile had 2.10 times (95% CI: 1.87-2.41) and 2.42 times (95% CI: 2.08-2.81) higher prevalence of DM in men and women, respectively. When the associations were examined according to age subcategories, significant associations between AHGS and the prevalence of DM were seen only in men in their 50s and 60s, but not seen in women in all age groups, with the exception of the 60s. However, significant associations between RHGS and the prevalence of DM were seen in all age subcategories.CONCLUSIONS:We concluded that the association between HGS and the prevalence of DM was dependent on age and RHGS is a stonger measure than AHGS.

Association between Dental Caries and Handgrip Strength: In a Population-Based Study in Korea (KNHANES 2016–2018)

“…Additionally, handgrip strength is reportedly not only associated with the prevalence of hypertension and circulatory disease [ 3 ], but also with health-related quality of life [ 8 ]. Thus, it was possible to confirm the relationship between handgrip strength and general health in previous studies [ 2 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Body mass index and relative handgrip strength are associated with the prevalence of hypertension in Korean elderly: Korean national fitness assessment in 2019

“…Since HGS is closely related to weight, it is recommended to use relative HGS (RHGS) obtained by dividing the grip strength by body weight [ 20 ]. Recent studies investigating the relationship between RHGS and chronic diseases, such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes, are being conducted continuously [ 12 , 21 , 22 ].…”