Handgrip strength and respiratory disease mortality: Longitudinal analyses from SHARE

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Limited research exists on the association between handgrip strength and mortality specifically from respiratory diseases.
• Previous studies have primarily focused on handgrip strength and all-cause mortality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between handgrip strength and respiratory disease mortality.
• To analyze this association in a large, representative sample of older adults across Europe and Israel.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).
• Inclusion of over 135,000 individuals aged 50+ from 27 European countries and Israel.
• Utilized Fine-Gray sub-distribution models to estimate sub-hazard ratios (SHRs) for respiratory disease mortality, accounting for competing risks and time-varying factors.

Main Results:

• A cohort of 60,883 men and 74,904 women was analyzed, with a median follow-up of 7.4 years.
• 565 participants (0.4%) died from respiratory diseases.
• Each 1 kg increase in handgrip strength was associated with a 6% reduction in respiratory disease mortality (SHR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.92-0.96).
• A dose-response relationship was observed, with handgrip strength of 41 kg or higher significantly reducing respiratory disease mortality risk (HR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.26-0.92).

Conclusions:

• Increased handgrip strength is significantly associated with decreased mortality from respiratory diseases.
• Further intervention studies are recommended to explore the potential of strength training in preventing premature mortality among respiratory disease patients.