Handgrip strength (HGS) is a validated and simple technique to estimate skeletal muscular strength. Whether HGS is a predictor of overall mortality in patients with established coronary artery disease (CAD) is not known, this question is therefore addressed in the present study. We prospectively investigated a cohort of 691 patients with angiographically proven CAD. HGS was measured at baseline, and all-cause death as well as cardiovascular events was recorded over a period of up to 12 years. During a follow-up time of 9.2 ± 3.1 years, 31.3% (n = 216) of the study participants died. Further, 27.8% (n = 192) suffered major cardiovascular events and 56.6% (n = 391) any cardiovascular event. Cox proportional hazard model analysis showed a reduced mortality risk with higher HGS univariately (hazard ratio [HR] for each 5 kg increase in HGS 0.87 [95% confidence interval 0.82 to 0.92]; p <0.001), after adjustment for age and gender (HR 0.86 [0.79 to 0.94]; p = 0.001), and after further adjustment for conventional cardiovascular risk factors (HR 0.86 [0.79 to 0.94]; p = 0.001). Similarly, high HGS was protective of major cardiovascular events as well as of total cardiovascular events (HRs in the fully adjusted model 0.86 [0.78 to 0.94]; p = 0.002 and 0.89 [0.83 to 0.96]; p = 0.002, respectively). From these data, we conclude that HGS is an independent predictor of overall survival and of cardiovascular events in patients with CAD.
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