The quality of life in Alzheimer's disease is not associated with handgrip strength but with activities of daily living-a composite study from 28 European countries

Rizwan Qaisar; M Azhar Hussain; Asima Karim; Firdos Ahmad; Fabio Franzese; Abeer A Al-Masri; Saad M Alsaad; Shaea Ayed Alkahtani

doi:10.1186/s12877-023-04233-1

The quality of life in Alzheimer's disease is not associated with handgrip strength but with activities of daily living-a composite study from 28 European countries

BMC Geriatr. 2023 Sep 4;23(1):536. doi: 10.1186/s12877-023-04233-1.

Authors

Rizwan Qaisar^{1

2}, M Azhar Hussain^{3

4}, Asima Karim¹, Firdos Ahmad^{1

2

5}, Fabio Franzese⁶, Abeer A Al-Masri⁷, Saad M Alsaad⁸, Shaea Ayed Alkahtani^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
² Cardiovascular Research Group, Research Institute for Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates.
³ Department of Finance and Economics, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, UAE.
⁴ Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, DK-4000, Denmark.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, 59911, United Arab Emirates.
⁶ SHARE Berlin Institute, Chausseestraße 111, 10115, Berlin, Germany.
⁷ Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Exercise physiology department, college of Sport Sciences and Physical Activity, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia. shalkahtani@ksu.edu.sa.
¹⁰ College of Sport Sciences and Physical Activity, King Saud University, PO Box: 2454, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia. shalkahtani@ksu.edu.sa.

Abstract

Objectives: The relationship between handgrip strength (HGS) and quality of life is inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential association between HGS and quality of life in the settings of ageing and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: We investigated the HGS, CASP-12 (control, autonomy, self-realization, and pleasure) measure of quality of life, and physical capacity in European adults above 50, including controls (n = 38,628) and AD subjects (n = 460) using the survey of health, ageing, and retirement in Europe (SHARE; 2022).

Results: AD subjects exhibited lower HGS and CASP-12 scores than controls (both p < 0.05). Participants with higher CASP-12 quartiles had higher HGS in controls but not in AD subjects. A linear positive relation was found between HGS and CASP-12 in controls (0.0842, p < 0.05) but not in AD subjects (0.0636, p = 0.091). There was no effect of gender on this finding. Lastly, we found significant negative associations of difficulties walking, rising from chair, climbing stairs, and fatigue with CASP-12 scores in controls and AD subjects (all p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Altogether, HGS was not associated with quality of life in individuals with AD. Conversely, difficulties in activities of daily living seem to be negatively associated with quality of life; thus, strategies are recommended to improve physical capacity.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; CASP-12; Handgrip strength; SHARE.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Activities of Daily Living
Alzheimer Disease* / diagnosis
Alzheimer Disease* / epidemiology
Europe / epidemiology
Hand Strength
Humans
Quality of Life*