Handgrip Strength Score Research Articles

Is hand bone mineral density a marker for hand function in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis? The correlation among bone mineral density of the hand, radiological findings and hand function

The objective of this study is to assess the role of hand bone mineral density (BMD) as a prospective marker for hand function and the correlation of hand BMD with X-ray findings and hand functioning in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Eighty-three female patients diagnosed with RA were enrolled. All BMD measurements were performed on both hands. The radiological evaluation was conducted according to the van der Heijde modification of the Sharp method (Sharp/van der Heijde). Duruöz Hand Index (DHI) was used to establish the disability in the hands. Furthermore, handgrip strength (HGS), pinch strength (PS), lateral pinch (LP), tip-to-tip pinch (TTP) and three-fingered pinch (TFP) on both the dominant and the non-dominant hands was measured. A significant positive correlation between hand BMD and HGS as well as all PSs with p < 0.05 was observed, while no statistically significant relation was observed between BMD and DHI (p > 0.05). The hand BMD and the Sharp/van der Heijde scores were significantly in reverse correlation (p < 0.05). As for other DHI-related variants, HGS and PS and the total DHI scores were reversely correlated, while there was a positive significant association with radiological scores (p < 0.05). HGS and TTP were found significant (p < 0.05) as a result of a multivariant linear stepwise regression analysis among the sub-groups of DHI, HGS, LP, TTP, TFP and radiographic total scores. Our study demonstrated that a one-off hand BMD measurement failed to adequately indicate a loss in hand function as measured by DHI. Ultimately, HGS and TTP were shown to be the most effective indicators for measuring hand functions.

HANDGRIP STRENGTH AS A SIMPLE INDICATOR OF MALNUTRITION IN HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS

Handgrip strength is a simple, easily performed bedside test that has been shown to correlate with lean body mass in patients close to inception of dialysis. To assess the usefulness of handgrip strength (HGS) as a simple screening instrument for assessing malnutrition among patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis and correlate it with Subjective Global Assessment score (SGA). 50 subjects on Maintenance Hemodialysis were randomly assessed using SGA scores and their Hand Grip Strength using the HGS instrument once after the dialysis. The study comprised of subjects in 3 different stages of CKD, stage III (22%), stage IV (44%), stage V (34%) among which 78% (39) were men with mean age of 51.46±13.21yr and 22% (11) were women with mean age of 60.36±14.62yr. The SGA classification showed that all the subjects (6) in severely malnourished category were of stage V whereas Very mild risk to well nourished category (15) comprised of stage III and IV. Similarly, the HGS scores were found to be 25.18±5.036 kg and 18.87±5.365 kg in CKD stage III and CKD stage V respectively. HGS was found to be directly correlated with SGA score, with statistical significance of p<0.01. HGS is a complementary tool for screening malnutrition in patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis.

Reliability and validity of an electronic dynamometer for measuring grip strength

Aims: This article describes a study aiming to establish the concurrent validity and test-retest reliability of the Biometrics E-LINK EP9 electronic dynamometer. Methods: Grip strength testing was performed on 49 healthy participants. Three trials were completed for the right and left hands on the Biometrics and Jamar dynamometers, using a repeated measures design. Data was compared and used to establish concurrent validity of the Biometrics dynamometer. Fifteen participants repeated the testing a week later, for test-retest reliability of the Biometrics dynamometer. Findings: The Biometrics E-LINK EP9 evaluation system was found to have excellent validity (ICC 0.983-0.986). However, a small but statistically significant difference between the right hand grip strength scores of the Biometrics (31.65 ± 8.89) and Jamar (30.44 ± 9.49) dynamometer was revealed (p ≤ 0.05). Test-retest reliability of the Biometrics system proved excellent, with ICC scores of 0.986 for the left hand and 0.996 for the right hand. Conclusions: The results indicate that the Biometrics E-LINK EP9 evaluation system is valid, reliable and comparable to the Jamar hydraulic dynamometer, when used for measuring grip strength with the second handle position. However, due to the statistically significant differences found for the right hand grip strength scores, therapists should exercise caution when interchanging instruments.