DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF HAND GRIP STRENGTH AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH IT IN A GROUP OF YOUNG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF PERADENIYA, SRILANKA WHO ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN REGULAR PHYSICAL TRAINING

Abstract

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) not only reflects the strength of the upper limb muscles; it also reflects the overall strength of the skeletal muscles and physical fitness. Further, it is being used as an indicator of nutritional status too. Undergraduate students have been described as having low physical fitness due to their sedentary lifestyle in many studies. Therefore, this study describes the HGS and its association with gender, hand dominance, Body Mass Index (BMI), hand and forearm anthropometries in a group of young undergraduate students of the University who do not participate in regular physical training.Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study, and was conducted among healthy first-year residential undergraduate student population (n= 524, 350 females, 174 males, mean age= 21.31 ± 0.93). Main outcome measures were HGS, gender, hand dominance, BMI, hand length, hand span, handbreadth, forearm length, forearm girth, and wrist circumference.Results: HGS of the dominant hand of male students was 35.27 ± 5.91 kg, which is significantly higher (p< 0.05) than that of the females (19.52 ± 4.34 kg). However, it has a significant but weakly positive correlation with other variables measured except for forearm length.Conclusion: This study has provided an insight into the association of low HGS with physical inactivity in an academically oriented group where the BMI is within the normal range and the association of higher HGS with hand dominance and male gender.