Handgrip strength in older adults from Antioquia-Colombia and comparison of cutoff points for dynapenia

Handgrip strength is a predictor of functional impairment and presence of morbimortality in older adults. However, appropriate reference values and cutoff points are required for its optimal use. This study describes handgrip characteristics in the older adult population of Antioquia-Colombia and compares the dynapenia handgrip cutoffs proposed for Colombians with international criteria. A cross-sectional study including 1592 older adults was done. Dynapenia prevalence by handgrip was analyzed using the following cutoffs: European Consensus of Sarcopenia (2018), Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (2019), Chilean (2018), and Colombian (2019). Handgrip strength significantly decreased with aging, showing a positive and strong association with functional and health parameters. The highest prevalence of dynapenia was found with the Asian Consensus cutoffs (26.1%) and the lowest with the Colombian cutoffs (0.8%). Low agreement was found between the Colombian cutoffs with the European Consensus (kappa = 0.059; p < 0.001), the Asian Consensus (kappa = 0.039; p < 0.001) and the Chilean proposal (kappa = 0.053; p < 0.001). Dynapenia using the Chilean, European, and Asian cutoffs was associated with physical inactivity, presence of multimorbidity, slow gait speed, nutritional risk, and low calf circumference. Meanwhile, the Colombian cutoffs was only associated with slow gait speed and low calf circumference. The handgrip cutoffs proposed for Colombians seems to underestimate the dynapenia prevalence in older people from Antioquia. Furthermore, these cutoff points did not show associations with relevant functional and health parameters. The handgrip cutoffs proposed for Colombians should be used with caution.