Abstract
BackgroundThere are conflicting researches on the relationship between muscular strength and depression, the most common mental illness. There is no study of relationship between muscular strength and depression using national data from young adults to seniors. For example, there has not been a study done explaining mediating pathways among the influences of handgrip strength on depression. Here, we conducted survey for the association between relative handgrip strength and depression and explain mediated pathways for quality of life.MethodsA cross-sectional study was administered to 4298 Korean adult subjects, aged 19–80 years, based on the 6th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VI) of 2014. Handgrip strength reported as the average with each hand. The relative handgrip strength is defined as the handgrip strength divided by the body mass index (BMI). We performed analysis for all subjects and age groups (young adult, middle-aged, and elderly). We analyzed the association using multivariate linear regression and logistic regression. We also conducted mediation analysis for quality of life, which was measured by the EuroQol Five-Dimension Questionnaire (EQ5D).ResultsAfter adjusting for covariates, handgrip strength was inversely associated with the PHQ-9 score (P < 0.05). The odds ratios (OR) of depression symptoms were statistically significant for participants in the first and second quartile of handgrip strength compared to those with the highest quartile in entire sample, young adult, middle-aged, and elderly. There was about a 50% mediation effect of EQ5D in the relationship between handgrip strength and depression.ConclusionsUsing a large national sample, our results found that lower handgrip strength is associated with an increased risk of depression in Korean adult (young adult, middle-aged, and elderly). Our results suggest that increasing muscular strength may prevent depression in Korean adults.
Highlights
There are conflicting researches on the relationship between muscular strength and depression, the most common mental illness
Sex, education, household income, diagnosis of depression for entire sample and all of age groups; smoking for entire sample, young adults, and elderly; alcohol consumption for elderly; body mass index (BMI) for entire sample, young adults, and middle-aged differed significantly between the depression and non-depression group. In both model 1(adjustment for age, sex) and model 2(adjustment for age, sex, household income, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, BMI, and physical activity), relative handgrip strength was inversely associated with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) (P < 0.05) (Table 2)
Among individuals who had the lowest quartile of handgrip strength, the odds ratios (OR) of having depression was 2.96 (95% confidence interval [Confidence interval (CI)] 2.16–4.06) and 3.41 compared to those with the highest
Summary
There are conflicting researches on the relationship between muscular strength and depression, the most common mental illness. There has not been a study done explaining mediating pathways among the influences of handgrip strength on depression. We conducted survey for the association between relative handgrip strength and depression and explain mediated pathways for quality of life. Depression was selected by the World Health Organization as the largest contributor to global disability (7.5% of all disabled people in 2015) [2]. Depression is an important issue in Korea because, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Health Statistics 2017, Korea’s suicide rate was the highest, and an average of 28.7 people per 100,000 committed suicide in 2013, about 2.4 times the OECD average of 12.1 [3]. As a physical fitness test, handgrip strength is an excellent predictor of short- and long-term mortality, more than muscle mass, and an indicator of nutritional status among hospitalized patients [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
