Introduction: Grip strength and blood pressure are strongly interrelated. Blood pressure is an essential component of arterial load, which modulates cardiac output.
Objectives: We aimed to asses the correlation between grip strength and both steady and pulsatile components of arterial load in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
Patients and methods: We included 295 participants (mean age, 63 years) with acute myocardial infarction. The following data were assessed: grip strength, echocardiography, local arterial stiffness, arterial tonometry, continuous arterial pulse, and beat‑to‑beat wave.
Results: In univariable analyses, grip strength correlated with arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity), ventricular-arterial coupling, and measures of pulsatile arterial load: aortic characteristic impedance (Zao), total arterial compliance (TAC), and central fractional arterial pulse pressure (cFPP). In a multivariable model including age, grip strength, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, sex, and descriptors of pulsatile load, the following remained associated with grip strength: Zao (R2 for the model = 0.58; P <0.001), TAC (R2 = 0.23 for the model; P <0.001), and cFPP (R2 for the model = 0.2; P <0.001). In the second model that included sex, only Zao remained associated with grip strength (R2 for the model = 0.67). Comparisons between men and women of the adjusted mean value demonstrated that Zao and cFPP were considerably higher (P <0.001 and P = 0.02, respectively) and TAC was lower in women (P <0.001).
Conclusions: In a cohort of patients with acute myocardial infarction, grip strength correlated independently and significantly with descriptors of the pulsatile arterial load. The role of sex in these interrelations needs further study.