Abstract
Hand grip strength (HGS) is recognized as an important health indicator, but validated reference values that can be applied to the evaluation of individuals in different populations are still lacking. This work aimed to identify correlations between HGS and anthropometric variables and to establish HGS reference values for adult and elderly populations. This is a population-based cross-sectional study considering the subsets of individuals with healthy right or left upper limbs from a sample of 1,609 adults and elderly residents in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil. Descriptive statistics of anthropometric measures and HGS values at maximum performance based on three measurements of the two hands were obtained, and Pearson correlations between these variables were applied. Percentile distributions were estimated for right and left HGS by sex and age group. Men presented, in general, a maximum HGS 57% higher than women (43.4 kg vs. 27.6 kg), and also higher HGS levels in the different age groups. In both sexes, the highest HGS values were observed in the age group of 30 to 39 years (men, 46.9 kg; women, 29.4 kg), with a subsequent decline. HGS presented a negative correlation with age and a weak to moderate positive correlation with anthropometric variables, among men and women. The median HGS of men was reduced by about 46% between the ages of 30 and 39 years and 80 years and over (right hand, 46.4 to 23.7 kg; left hand, 42.2 to 23.5 kg) and by about 44% in women (right hand, 29.0 to 16.4 kg, left hand, 27.3 to 15.2 kg). The values identified are a reference for HGS behavior among healthy adults and seniors, although they do not discriminate individuals with specific health conditions. They can be used in rehabilitation programs and subsidize future studies aimed at exploring their potential application in the evaluation of the health condition of adults and elderly individuals.
Highlights
Hand grip strength (HGS) is used clinically in the rehabilitation area [1,2] and has been recommended as a basic measure in the determination of musculoskeletal function, as well as of weakness and disability [3,4,5]
This study aims to identify correlations between HGS and anthropometric variables and to establish HGS reference values for adult and elderly population groups based on data collected by the Study of Chronic Diseases (Estudo das Doenças Crônicas—EDOC), conducted in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil
In the analyses presented here, all individuals with both upper limbs defined in the study as not healthy due to reports of previous injury, recent acute pain or malformation that could affect the performance in the HGS test were excluded
Summary
Hand grip strength (HGS) is used clinically in the rehabilitation area [1,2] and has been recommended as a basic measure in the determination of musculoskeletal function, as well as of weakness and disability [3,4,5]. HGS is influenced by age, sex, anthropometric variables (height, weight, hand size, arm circumference) and hand dominance [8,9,10,11], and is associated with different health outcomes [9,12], especially in elderly people [7] It plays an important role in the evaluation of clinical and surgical treatment prognoses [13,14,15], functional evaluation of the elderly [16], identification of potential sports talents [17] and in the composition of the battery of admission tests in different professional activities such as police, armed forces and fire brigade [18]. The availability of reliable and up-to-date population reference values to which individuals can be compared is paramount [19]
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