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Hand-grip strength and disability

Hand-grip strength related to lower disability

Hand-grip strength at baseline was inversely related to 4-year disability in rural elderly men in Italy. Of the men with a hand-grip strength rated “good”, 26% became disabled versus 48% who were graded “poor”. This inverse relationship of grip strength to risk of disability remained after multivariable analysis.

Interpretation

This small study among one SCS cohort shows that hand-grip strength in older men, a simple measure of muscular strength, provides information about the risk of future disability. Though hand-grip strength is influenced by several disorders, multivariable analysis showed that its prognostic value is independent of joint disorders, diabetes and cognitive function.

References

More about healthy aging

From 1984 onwards, additional studies started to examine indicators of healthy ageing in the elderly populations of in the SCS and related studies.


Measuring functional status

Functional status was measured with a self-administered 13-item WHO-questionnaire on activities of daily living.

Widowhood and disability

The associations of different aspects of widowhood with disability were investigated in elderly men from Finland, Italy and The Netherlands in the FINE Study.

Physical activity and disability

The results suggest that even in old age among relatively healthy men, a physically active lifestyle was inversely related to disability.

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