The correlation between serum thyroid hormone levels and hand grip among elderly male Chinese inpatients

Thyroid dysfunction is closely associated with skeletal muscle weakness. However, data on the optimal serum range of thyroid hormones for maintaining muscle strength in the elderly is lacking.

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis in male elderly inpatients from the Geriatric Department of Zhongshan Hospital (affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai, China). Serum biochemical parameters and thyroid hormones were detected for each participant. Hand grip (HG) was measured, with low hand grip defined as HG <26 kg according to the standard of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the effects of different serum thyroid hormone levels on HG.

The majority of the subjects were euthyroid. The prevalence of low hand grip was 48.5%. Stratified by the free thyroxine (FT4) quartiles, the results showed HG was the highest in the third quartile. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that compared with those in the first quartile, subjects in the third quartile of FT4 had a significantly lower risk of low hand grip (OR = 0.133, 95%CI: 0.020-0.610, p = .009), after adjusting potential confounding factors.

In elderly male inpatients, maintaining a narrower serum range of thyroid hormone might be needed to protect skeletal muscle strength.