Background and objective

The study aimed to analyze the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) according to the absolute and relative hand grip strength (HGS) in people aged >60 years.

Materials and methods

The participants included 2721 adults aged between 60 and 79 years (1589 men and 1132 women) who completed measurements of HGS and variables related to MetS. The MetS criteria were based on the third report of the National Cholesterol Education Program; expert panel on detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol in adults (NCEP-ATP III) guidelines; and waist circumference determined by the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity. HGS was measured three times for each hand and the highest value was retained. After dividing the HGS values into quartiles, the highest group was defined as G1 and the lowest as G4. The prevalence of MetS in each group was reported as an odds ratio (OR) calculated using logistic regression analysis. The absolute and relative HGS cut-off values were used for the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. 

Results

Of the total participants, 695 men (43.7%) and 646 women (57.1%) were diagnosed with MetS. The absolute cut-off values for HGS were 36.0 kg (AUC 0.533, p=0.015) for men and 19.6 kg (AUC 0.506, p=0.017) for women. The relative cut-off values were calculated as 57.5% (AUC 0.633, p=0.014) for men and 38.9% (AUC 0.617, p=0.017) for women. The participants were divided into quartiles based on the relative HGS. The risk of MetS in the group with the lowest relative HGS (G4) was 5.00 (p<0.001) times greater for men and 2.74 (p<0.001) times greater for women than the highest relative HGS (G1).

Conclusion

The relative HGS value was higherin non-MetS subjects compared to the MetS subjects, and as the relative HGS value was lower, the prevalence of MetS increased to 5.00 times for men and 2.74 times for women.