Abstract
In September 2019, the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia announced the government’s commitment to legislate an Act to sustain and improve the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the elderly. HRQoL refers to the perceived physical and mental health of an individual or a group over time. Hand grip strength (HGS) is an indicator for mobility limitation and HRQoL. This cross-sectional study was performed to examine the association between HGS and HRQoL among 106 adults aged from 30 to 60 years in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Terengganu. Out of the total sample, 37.7% of respondents were males, and 62.3% were females. The mean age of respondents was 38.44 (7.78) years. Sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements (weight, height, HGS), protein intake, physical activity (PA) level and HRQoL were assessed. The prevalence of respondents to have normal right HGS was 79.2%, and normal left HGS was 69.8%. The respondents were classified as healthy and unhealthy according to the EQ-5D-5L index score. The prevalence of the healthy group was 67.9%. A significant difference was only found in HGS, protein intake and PA between genders, while a significant association was only found between HGS and PA with HRQoL. The results revealed that HGS is linked with HRQoL, whereas low HGS is related to the impaired status of HRQoL by EQ-5D-5L index score and visual analogue scale (VAS) score in Malaysian males and females. More investigation is warranted to examine the specific plausibility between HGS and HRQoL.
Highlights
Ageing may result in anabolic impairment in skeletal muscles, which further cause the widespread reduction in muscle mass and strength
The results revealed that Hand grip strength (HGS) is linked with health-related quality of life (HRQoL), whereas low HGS is related to the impaired status of HRQoL by EQ-5D-5L index score and visual analogue scale (VAS) score in Malaysian males and females
More investigation is warranted to examine the specific plausibility between HGS and HRQoL
Summary
Ageing may result in anabolic impairment in skeletal muscles, which further cause the widespread reduction in muscle mass and strength. Approximately 30% of the peak muscle of an individual is lost. This loss is exacerbated by poor PA and nutritional status (Mcleod et al, 2016). The demographic changes in Malaysia have pushed the health care systems and physicians to develop alternative solutions further. Proper muscle strength and muscle mass via exercise or protein-based nutrition are essential to maintain proper body function (Mcleod et al, 2016). Muscle strength or HGS is recommended to be the single marker for the well-being of an individual (Rijk et al, 2016)
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