Hand grip strength is associated with cardiopulmonary function in Chinese adults: Results from a cross-sectional study

Rong Zhu; Wei Li; Lili Xia; Xinghua Yang; Biao Zhang; Feng Liu; Jingang Ma; Zhiping Hu; Yajun Li; Dongxue Li; Jiajia Jiang; Yan He; Guangliang Shan

doi:10.1016/j.jesf.2019.12.001

Hand grip strength is associated with cardiopulmonary function in Chinese adults: Results from a cross-sectional study

J Exerc Sci Fit. 2020 May;18(2):57-61. doi: 10.1016/j.jesf.2019.12.001. Epub 2019 Dec 9.

Authors

Rong Zhu¹, Wei Li¹, Lili Xia¹, Xinghua Yang¹, Biao Zhang², Feng Liu³, Jingang Ma³, Zhiping Hu³, Yajun Li³, Dongxue Li¹, Jiajia Jiang¹, Yan He^{1

4}, Guangliang Shan²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, No. 10, Xitoutiao, You'anmen Wai, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100069, China.
² Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 3, Dongdan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100005, China.
³ Shanxi Provincial Disease Prevention and Control Center, No. 3, Building East Street, Beilin District, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710054, China.
⁴ Municipal Key Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Background: The objective of this population-based study was to examine whether there was association of hand grip strength (HGS) with cardiopulmonary function in population without cardiopulmonary disease.

Methods: Data were derived from an ongoing cross-sectional survey of the National Physique and Health in Shanxi Province. There were 908 participants with the cardiac function tests and 380 participants with the pulmonary function tests. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the association of HGS with cardiopulmonary function.

Results: Among participants with the cardiac function tests, HGS was positively associated with left ventricular end diastolic diameter in both genders (male: b = 0.010 (0.005, 0.015), P < 0.001; female: b = 0.008 (0.002, 0.014), P = 0.01) and left ventricular ejection fraction in males (b = 0.114 (0.027, 0.201), P = 0.01). Among participants with the pulmonary function tests, HGS was positively associated with vital capacity (male: b = 0.033 (0.021, 0.045); female: b = 0.033 (0.021, 0.045)), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (male: b = 0.023 (0.014, 0.032); female: b = 0.019 (0.010, 0.028)) and maximal voluntary ventilation (male: b = 1.186 (0.665, 1.708); female: b = 0.965 (0.453, 1.476)) in both genders (all P < 0.001).

Conclusions: These results suggested that greater HGS was associated with favorable cardiopulmonary function in Chinese adults, thus HGS might be an indicator of cardiopulmonary function.

Keywords: COPD; Cardiac function; Hand grip strength; Muscle strength; Pulmonary function.