TY - JOUR

T1 - Handgrip strength, ageing and mortality in rural Africa

AU - Koopman, Jacob J E

AU - van Bodegom, David

AU - van Heemst, Diana

AU - Westendorp, Rudi G J

N1 - © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - BACKGROUND: muscle strength measured as handgrip strength declines with increasing age and predicts mortality. While handgrip strength is determined by lifestyle through nutrition and physical activity, it has almost exclusively been studied in western populations with a sedentary lifestyle. This study aims to investigate the relation between handgrip strength, ageing and mortality in a population characterised by a predominance of malnutrition and manual labour.DESIGN: a population-based longitudinal study.SETTING: a traditional African rural population in Ghana.SUBJECTS: nine hundred and twenty-three community-dwelling individuals aged 50 and older.METHODS: demographic characteristics were registered. At baseline, height, body mass index (BMI) and handgrip strength were measured and compared with those in a western reference population. Survival of the participants was documented during a period of up to 2 years.RESULTS: handgrip strength was dependent on age, sex, height and BMI. Compared with the western reference population, handgrip strength was lower due to a lower height and BMI but declined over age similarly. Risk of mortality was lower in participants having higher handgrip strength, with a hazard ratio of 0.94 per kg increase (P = 0.002). After adjustment for age, sex, tribe, socio-economic status, drinking water source, height and BMI, only handgrip strength remained predictive of mortality.CONCLUSION: in a traditional rural African population characterised by malnutrition and manual labour, handgrip strength declines over age and independently predicts mortality similar to western populations. Handgrip strength can be used as a universal marker of ageing.

AB - BACKGROUND: muscle strength measured as handgrip strength declines with increasing age and predicts mortality. While handgrip strength is determined by lifestyle through nutrition and physical activity, it has almost exclusively been studied in western populations with a sedentary lifestyle. This study aims to investigate the relation between handgrip strength, ageing and mortality in a population characterised by a predominance of malnutrition and manual labour.DESIGN: a population-based longitudinal study.SETTING: a traditional African rural population in Ghana.SUBJECTS: nine hundred and twenty-three community-dwelling individuals aged 50 and older.METHODS: demographic characteristics were registered. At baseline, height, body mass index (BMI) and handgrip strength were measured and compared with those in a western reference population. Survival of the participants was documented during a period of up to 2 years.RESULTS: handgrip strength was dependent on age, sex, height and BMI. Compared with the western reference population, handgrip strength was lower due to a lower height and BMI but declined over age similarly. Risk of mortality was lower in participants having higher handgrip strength, with a hazard ratio of 0.94 per kg increase (P = 0.002). After adjustment for age, sex, tribe, socio-economic status, drinking water source, height and BMI, only handgrip strength remained predictive of mortality.CONCLUSION: in a traditional rural African population characterised by malnutrition and manual labour, handgrip strength declines over age and independently predicts mortality similar to western populations. Handgrip strength can be used as a universal marker of ageing.

U2 - 10.1093/ageing/afu165

DO - 10.1093/ageing/afu165

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 25331975

VL - 44

SP - 465

EP - 470

JO - Age and Ageing

JF - Age and Ageing

SN - 0002-0729

IS - 3

ER -