Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Geriatrics
Published in: BMC Geriatrics 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research Article

Handgrip strength values of Portuguese older adults: a population based study

Authors: Joana Mendes, Teresa F. Amaral, Nuno Borges, Alejandro Santos, Patrícia Padrão, Pedro Moreira, Cláudia Afonso, Rita Negrão

Published in: BMC Geriatrics | Issue 1/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Handgrip strength is used to identify sarcopenia and frailty phenotypes, being a potential predictor of mortality in older adults. However, uniformity is lacking in the reference values. This study aimed to describe handgrip strength values of older population aged ≥65 years in Portugal, considering the possible influence of anthropometric parameters.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Portugal, among 1500 older adults aged ≥65 years old, according to “The Nutrition UP 65 Study Protocol”. Demographic data were collected and cognitive performance, subjective general health, physical activity, anthropometric parameters and nutritional status were assessed and analysed. Handgrip strength data was obtained with a Jamar dynamometer. A Pubmed/Medline search was carried out to compare handgrip strength data between Portuguese older adults and other older populations.

Results

Handgrip strength was higher among men than among women (30.3 ± 9.2 Kgf vs 18 ± 5.4 Kgf, p < 0.001, respectively). In general, handgrip strength values of Portuguese older adults were lower than other older populations. In our sample, age, cognitive and nutritional status, self-reported sitting time and practice of physical activity were significantly correlated with handgrip strength in both sexes. Concerning anthropometric parameters, height was the most significantly correlated with handgrip strength (r = 0.34, p < 0.001, in women and r = 0.40, p < 0.001, in men).

Conclusion

This study described, for the first time, handgrip strength values of Portuguese population aged ≥65 years, according to age and to sex-specific tertiles of height. The definition of handgrip strength reference values in this age group merits further reflection.
Literature
1.
Clegg A, Young J, Iliffe S, Rikkert MO, Rockwood K. Frailty in elderly people. Lancet. 2013;381(9868):752–62.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Mendes J, Azevedo A, Amaral TF. Handgrip strength at admission and time to discharge in medical and surgical inpatients. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2014;38(4):481–8.CrossRefPubMed
3.
Sasaki H, Kasagi F, Yamada M, Fujita S. Grip strength predicts cause-specific mortality in middle-aged and elderly persons. Am J Med. 2007;120(4):337–42.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Newman AB, Kupelien V, Visser M, Simonsick EM, Goodpaster BH, Kritchevsky SB, et al. Strength, but not muscle mass, is associated with mortality in the health, aging and body composition study cohort. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2006;61(1):72–7.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Andersen JL. Muscle fibre type adaptation in the elderly human muscle. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2003;13(1):40–7.CrossRefPubMed
6.
7.
Amaral TF, Santos A, Guerra RS, Sousa AS, Álvares L, Valdiviesso R, et al. Nutritional Strategies Facing an Older Demographic: The Nutrition UP 65 Study Protocol. JMIR Res Protoc. 2016;5(3):e184. doi:10.​2196/​resprot.​6037.
8.
Simmonds SJ, Syddall HR, Westbury LD, Dodds RM, Cooper C, Aihie SA. Grip strength among community-dwelling older people predicts hospital admission during the following decade. Age Ageing. 2015;44(6):954–9.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Silva AM, Shen W, Heo M, Gallagher D, Wang Z, Sardinha LB, et al. Ethnicity-related skeletal muscle differences across the lifespan. Am J Hum Biol. 2010;22(1):76–82.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
10.
Censos 2011 Resultados definitivos - Portugal. In: Instituto Nacional de Estatística. Lisboa, Portugal: Instituto Nacional de Estatística; 2012:96. http://​censos.​ine.​pt. Accessed 22 Aug 2017.
11.
Guerreiro M. Testes de rastreio de defeito cognitivo e demência: uma perspectiva prática. Rev Port Clin Geral. 2010;26:46–53.
12.
13.
Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjöström M, Bauman AE, Booth ML, Ainsworth BE, et al. International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35(8):1381–95.CrossRefPubMed
14.
15.
Fess E. Grip strength. In: Casanova JS, editor. Clinical assessment recommendations. 2nd ed. Chicago: American Society of Hand Therapists; 1992. p. 41–5.
16.
American Society Hand Therapy. The hand: examination and diagnosis. 3rd ed. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1983.
17.
Bohannon RW. Grip strength: a summary of studies comparing dominant and non-dominant limb measurements. Percept Mot Skills. 2003;96(3 Pt 1):728–30.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Hillman TE, Nunes QM, Hornby ST, Stanga Z, Neal KR, Rowlands BJ, et al. A practical posture for hand grip dynamometry in the clinical setting. Clin Nutr. 2005;24(2):224–8.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Koh JH, Jung SM, Lee JJ, Kang KY, Kwok SK, Park SH, et al. Radiographic structural damage is worse in the dominant than the non-dominant hand in individuals with early rheumatoid arthritis. PLoS One. 2015;10(8):e0135409.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
20.
Leong DP, Teo KK., Rangarajan S, Kutty VR, Lanas F, Hui C, et al. Reference ranges of handgrip strength from 125,462 healthy adults in 21 countries: a prospective urban ruralepidemiologic (PURE) study. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2016. doi: https://​doi.​org/​10.​1002/​jcsm.​12112.
21.
Veronese N, Stubbs B, Fontana L, Trevisan C, Bolzetta F, Rui M, et al. A Comparison of Objective Physical Performance Tests and Future Mortality in the Elderly People. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2017;1;72(3):362–68.
22.
Tveter AT, Dagfinrud H, Moseng T, Holm I. Health related physical fitness measures: reference values and reference equations for use in clinical practice. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2014;95(7):1366–73.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Spruit MA, Sillen MJ, Groenen MT, Wouters EF, Franssen FM. New normative values for handgrip strength: results from the UK biobank. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2013;14(10):775.e5–11.CrossRef
24.
Kenny RA, Coen RF, Frewen J, Donoghue OA, Cronin H, Savva GM. Normative values of cognitive and physical function in older adults: findings from the Irish longitudinal Studyon ageing. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2013;61(Suppl 2):S279–90.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Ribom EL, Mellström D, Ljunggren Ö, Karlsson MK. Population-based reference values of handgrip strength and functional tests of muscle strength and balance inmen aged 70–80 years. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2011;53(2):e114–7.CrossRefPubMed
26.
Günther CM, Bürger A, Rickert M, Crispin A, Schulz CU. Grip strength in healthy caucasian adults: reference values. J Hand Surg Am. 2008;33(4):558–65.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Frederiksen H, Hjelmborg J, Mortensen J, McGue M, Vaupel JW, Christensen K. Age trajectories of grip strength: cross-sectional and longitudinal data among 8,342 Danes aged 46 to 102. Ann Epidemiol. 2006;16(7):554–62.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Luna-Heredia E, Martín-Peña G, Ruiz-Galiana J. Handgrip dynamometry in healthy adults. Clin Nutr. 2005;24(2):250–8.CrossRefPubMed
29.
Cote MP, Kenny A, Dussetschleger J, Farr D, Chaurasia A, Cherniack M. Reference values for physical performance measures in the aging working population. Hum Factors. 2014;56(1):228–42.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Al Snih S, Markides KS, Ray L, Ostir GV, Goodwin JS. Handgrip strength and mortality in older Mexican Americans. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002;50(7):1250–6.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Mancilla SE, Ramos FS, Morales BP. Association between handgrip strength and functional performance in Chilean older people. Rev Med Chil. 2016;144(5):598–603.CrossRef
32.
Schlüssel MM, dos Anjos LA, de Vasconcellos MT, Kac G. Reference values of handgrip dynamometry of healthy adults: a population-based study. Clin Nutr. 2008;27(4):601–7.CrossRefPubMed
33.
Zeng P, Han Y, Pang J, Wu S, Gong H, Zhu J, et al. Sarcopenia-related features and factors associated with lower muscle strength and physical performance inolder Chinese: a cross sectional study. BMC Geriatr. 2016;16:45.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
34.
Massy-Westropp NM, Gill TK, Taylor AW, Bohannon RW, Hill CL. Hand grip strength: age and gender stratified normative data in a population-based study. BMC Res Notes. 2011;4:127.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
35.
Bohannon RW, Peolsson A, Massy-Westropp N, Desrosiers J, Bear-Lehman J. Reference values for adult grip strength with Jamar dynamometer: a descriptive meta-analysis. Physiotherapy. 2006;92:11–5.CrossRef
36.
Bohannon RW, Bear-Lehman J, Desrosiers J, Massy-Westropp N, Mathiowetz V. Average grip strength: a meta-analysis of data obtained with a Jamar dynamometer from individuals 75 years or more of age. J Geriatr Phys Ther. 2007;30(1):28–30.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Boyle PA, Buchman AS, Wilson RS, Leurgans SE, Bennett DA. Physical frailty is associated with incident mild cognitive impairment in community-based older persons. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2010;58(2):248–55.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
38.
McGough EL, Cochrane BB, Pike KC, Logsdon RG, McCurry SM, Teri L. Dimensions of physical frailty and cognitive function in older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Ann Phys Rehabil Med. 2013;56(5):329–41.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
39.
Fritz NE, McCarthy CJ, Adamo DE. Handgrip strength as a means of monitoring progression of cognitive decline - a scoping review. Ageing Res Rev. 2017;35:112–23.CrossRefPubMed
40.
Alencar MA, Dias JM, Figueiredo LC, Dias RC. Handgrip strength in elderly with dementia: study of reliability. Rev Bras Fisioter. 2012;16(6):510–4.CrossRefPubMed
41.
Onder G, Cesari M, Russo A, Zamboni V, Bernabei R, Landi F. Association between daily pain and physical function among old-old adults living in the community: results from the ilSIRENTE study. Pain. 2006;121(1–2):53–9.CrossRefPubMed
42.
Rosenberg D, Cook A, Gell N, Lozano P, Grothaus L, Arterburn D. Relationships between sitting time and health indicators, costs, and utilization in older adults. Prev Med Rep. 2015;30(2):247–9.CrossRef
43.
44.
Cereda E, Pedrolli C, Klersy C, Bonardi C, Quarleri L, Cappello S, et al. Nutritional status in older persons according to healthcare setting: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence data using MNA®. Clin Nutr. 2016;35(6):1282–90.
45.
46.
Fielding RA, Vellas B, Evans WJ, Bhasin S, Morley JE, Newman AB, et al. Sarcopenia: an undiagnosed condition in older adults. Current consensus definition: prevalence, etiology, and consequences. International working group on sarcopenia. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2011;12:249–56.CrossRefPubMed
47.
Cederholm T, Bosaeus I, Barazzoni R, Bauer J, Van Gossum A, Klek S, et al. Diagnostic criteria for malnutrition - an ESPEN consensus statement. Clin Nutr. 2015;34(3):335–40.CrossRefPubMed
48.
Han DS, Chang KV, Li CM, Lin YH, Kao TW, Tsai KS, et al. Skeletal muscle mass adjusted by height correlated better with muscular functions than that adjusted by body weight in defining sarcopenia. Sci Rep. 2016;6:19457.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
49.
Alley DE, Shardell MD, Peters KW, McLean RR, Dam TT, Kenny AM, et al. Grip strength cutpoints for the identification of clinically relevant weakness. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2014;69(5):559–66.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
50.
Ruiz-Ruiz J, Mesa JL, Gutiérrez A, Castillo MJ. Hand size influences optimal grip span in women but not in men. J Hand Surg Am. 2002;27(5):897–901.CrossRefPubMed
51.
McLean RR, Mangano KM, Hannan MT, Kiel DP, Sahni S. Dietary protein intake is protective against loss of grip strength among older adults in the Framingham offspring cohort. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2016;71(3):356–61.CrossRefPubMed
52.
de Lima TR, Silva DAS, de Castro JAC, Christofaro DGD. Handgrip strength and associated sociodemographic and lifestyle factors: a systematic review of the adult population. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2017;21(2):401–13.CrossRefPubMed
53.
Jiménez-Pavón D, Ortega FB, Ruiz JR, Chillón P, Castillo R, Artero EG, et al. Influence of socioeconomic factors on fitness and fatness in Spanish adolescents: the AVENA study. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2010;5(6):467–73.CrossRefPubMed
54.
Dodds RM, Syddall HE, Cooper R, Kuh D, Cooper C, Sayer AA. Global variation in grip strength: a systematic review and meta analysis of normative data. Age Ageing. 2016;45(2):209–16.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Metadata
Title
Handgrip strength values of Portuguese older adults: a population based study
Authors
Joana Mendes
Teresa F. Amaral
Nuno Borges
Alejandro Santos
Patrícia Padrão
Pedro Moreira
Cláudia Afonso
Rita Negrão
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Geriatrics / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2318
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-017-0590-5

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

BMC Geriatrics 1/2017 Go to the issue

Research Article

Computer and telephone delivered interventions to support caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review of research output and quality

Study protocol

The effectiveness of creating an online life story book on persons with early dementia and their informal caregivers: a protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Research Article

Couple-kissing flaps for successful repair of severe sacral pressure ulcers in frail elderly patients

Research Article

Absolute and relative accelerometer thresholds for determining the association between physical activity and metabolic syndrome in the older adults: The Generation-100 study

Study protocol

Protocol for the Delirium and Cognitive Impact in Dementia (DECIDE) study: A nested prospective longitudinal cohort study

Research Article

Associations between cerebral amyloid and changes in cognitive function and falls risk in subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment
Obesity Clinical Trial Summary

At a glance: The STEP trials

Read more

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.

Developed by: Springer Medicine

Highlights from the ACC 2024 Congress

Year in Review: Pediatric cardiology

Pediatric Cardiology Video

Watch Dr. Anne Marie Valente present the last year's highlights in pediatric and congenital heart disease in the official ACC.24 Year in Review session.

Year in Review: Pulmonary vascular disease

Cardiopulmonary Comorbidity Video

The last year's highlights in pulmonary vascular disease are presented by Dr. Jane Leopold in this official video from ACC.24.

Year in Review: Valvular heart disease

Valvular Heart Disease Video

Watch Prof. William Zoghbi present the last year's highlights in valvular heart disease from the official ACC.24 Year in Review session.

Year in Review: Heart failure and cardiomyopathies

Heart Failure Video

Watch this official video from ACC.24. Dr. Biykem Bozkurt discuss last year's major advances in heart failure and cardiomyopathies.

ACC 2024 Congress Coverage

Year in Review: Heart failure and cardiomyopathies

Heart Failure Video

Watch this official video from ACC.24. Dr. Biykem Bozkurt discuss last year's major advances in heart failure and cardiomyopathies.

Watch now

Semaglutide benefits people with type 2 diabetes and obesity-related heart failure

16-04-2024 Type 2 Diabetes News

Incentivised to exercise

11-04-2024 Lifestyle Modifications News

New intervention for STEMI-related cardiogenic shock

10-04-2024 Myocardial Infarction News

» View more highlights on the ACC 2024 congress hub page

Image Credits