Higher handgrip strength predicts a lower risk of depressive symptoms in rural Chinese populations

The longitudinal associations between handgrip strength (HGS) and depressive symptoms remain unclear, especially in developing countries. The aim of this cohort study was to explore the associations between HGS and the incidence of depressive symptoms in China.

This prospective cohort study enrolled 8470 participants living in 450 urban communities and rural villages within 28 provinces of China. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the associations between baseline HGS and the incidence of depressive symptoms.

During the following period (mean follow-up, 3.75 years; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.73-3.76 years), 2,027 (23.93%) out of 8470 participants developed depressive symptoms. The risk of depressive symptoms decreased progressively with both increasing weighted HGS (P for trend = 0.04) and absolute HGS (P for trend < 0.001) after multivariate-adjustments. Compared with participants in the lowest quartiles of weighted and absolute HGS, the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) (95% CIs) of depressive symptoms for participants in the highest quartiles were 0.83 (0.71, 0.98) and 0.74 (0.62, 0.89), respectively. The interaction terms of weighted HGS-place of residence (P for interaction < 0.001) and absolute HGS-place of residence (P for interaction = 0.03) were both significant. Higher weighted and absolute HGS were associated with a lower incidence of depressive symptoms for participants living in rural villages but not urban communities.

The results suggest that HGS predicts a lower risk of depressive symptoms in Chinese rural populations.