Muscular strength of adult Special Olympians by country economic status

Sara Santarossa,John T Foley,Brooke Demarco,Pauli Rintala,Meghann Lloyd,Viviene A Temple

doi:10.5507/euj.2017.002

Abstract

There is a strong relationship between economic prosperity and health as well as between muscle strength and health (morbidity and mortality). However, very little research has concomitantly examined economic prosperity and muscular strength in the general population, and no studies have simultaneously examined these factors in a population of adults with intellectual disabilities. This study examined grip strength among adult Special Olympics participants by country economic status. A total of 12,132 (men = 65%) right and left hand grip strength records were available from the Special Olympics International (SOI) FUNFitness database. The 127 countries within the SOI dataset were grouped by economy according to The World Bank’s gross national income per capita as: low-income countries (n = 11), lower middle-income countries (n = 27), upper middle-income countries (n = 38), and high-income countries (n = 51). There was a significant overall effect of country economic status for both males and females for right and left hand grip strength. Although the grip strength of both men and women did not differ between low-income and low-middle income countries, the general trend was to observe greater grip strength with increased economic prosperity among both men and women. However, to advance our knowledge of the importance of muscle strength for persons with intellectual disabilities, research linking grip strength to health outcomes, functional status, and successful participation activities of daily living is needed.

Highlights

Measured physical fitness is an important predictor of mortality and morbidity (Kodama et al, 2009; Ortega, Silventoinen, Tynelius, & Rasmussen, 2012)
A total of 12,132 ranging in age from 18–65 years with an average age of 28 years and 8 months adult Special Olympics International (SOI) hand grip scores were available from 127 countries after data cleaning
Outside of these null findings, the general trend was to observe greater grip strength with increased economic prosperity among both men and women, except when men upper middle-income countries were compared to men in upper-income countries, where the difference was the reverse

Summary

Introduction

Measured physical fitness is an important predictor of mortality and morbidity (Kodama et al, 2009; Ortega, Silventoinen, Tynelius, & Rasmussen, 2012). Individuals with disabilities are beginning to have a life expectancy closer to that of the general population, their ageing process usually coincides with poor health, high rates of multi-morbidity, and frailty at an extremely young age (Evenhuis, Hermans, Hilgenkamp, Bastiaanse, & Echteld, 2012). Along with poor physical fitness levels, this may increase the likelihood that persons with intellectual disability will have greater difficulty maintaining their ability to work, participate in their community, and perform self-care activities (Graham & Reid, 2000; Special Olympics Report, 2001), resulting in a poorer quality of life. Higher muscular strength is associated with decreased mortality from all-causes, from cardiovascular disease, and some forms of cancer (Gale, Martyn, Cooper, & Sayer, 2007); as well as lower rates of functional limitations in upper limbs (Kuh et al, 2005). Muscular strength can be measured in a variety of ways (Guadalupe-Grau et al, 2015), the hand grip strength test is widely used, easy to administer, valid and reliable measure of muscular strength (Cuesta-Vargas & Hilgenkamp, 2015)

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