Low Grip Strength and Prediabetes in Normal-Weight Adults

Detection of prediabetes is an important step in diabetes prevention in primary care. Risk stratification of healthy-weight individuals for detection of prediabetes is necessary to avoid missed opportunities for diabetes prevention.

Using data from the 2011 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we studied the relationship between combined handgrip strength, a proxy for lean muscle mass, and prediabetes among adults aged ≥20 years without diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes who had a healthy body mass index (18.5-24.9 kg/m(2); unweighted n = 1340, weighted n = 58,360,690). Prediabetes was defined as having a glycohemoglobin level between 5.7% and 6.4%.

Of the healthy-weight adults, 20.5% had prediabetes. Combined mean grip strength was lower for individuals with prediabetes than those with normoglycemia in the full sample (63.8 vs 70.9 kg; P = .004). Similar results were seen among both men (87.9 vs 82.1 kg; P = .03) and women (51.8 vs 56.5 kg; P = .001) in subgroup analysis.

Grip strength is associated with prediabetes among healthy-weight US adults. Grip strength may have utility as an indicator for screening healthy-weight individuals for prediabetes.