The Combined Impact of Low Hand Grip Strength and Co-morbidity on the Risk of All-cause Mortality in Korean Middle-aged and Older Adults

• Main Authors: Inhwan Lee, Hyunsik Kang
• Format: Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: The Korean Society of Exercise Physiology 2020-02-01
• Series: 운동과학
• Subjects: co-morbidity; hand grip strength; all-cause mortality; middle-aged and older adults
• Online Access: http://www.ksep-es.org/upload/pdf/es-29-1-40.pdf

PURPOSE This study investigated the combined impact of low hand grip strength (HGS) and number of comorbidities on the risk of all-cause mortality in Korean middle-aged and older adults. METHODS Data from the 2006 baseline and 2016 follow-up assessments of the Korean longitudinal study of aging (KLoSA) involving 9,270 Korean adults aged ≥45 years (55.6% women) were used in the study. Study participants were classified as zero, one, and two or more categories based on number of co-morbidities and as high, middle, and low categories based on HGS distributions. The Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of all-cause mortality according to HGS categories and number of comorbidities. RESULTS During the 9.7±2.7 year follow-up period, 1,285 deaths from all causes occurred. In both middle and low HGS categories, one and two or more comorbidities resulted in an increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR=1.493; 95% CI=1.220-1.828; p<.001 and HR=1.427; 95% CI=1.190-1.711; p<.001, respectively) compared to no comorbidity (HR=1). Furthermore, the increased risks of all-cause mortality remained significant even after adjustments for a number of confounders such as age, sex, socio-economic status, and parameters of health behaviors and conditions. In high HGS category, there were no significant differences in the risk of all-cause mortality according to number of co-morbidities. CONCLUSIONS The current finding suggested that promotion of upper body muscular strength may play an important role in preventing premature death from all causes, especially among those who suffer from co-morbidities.