Association between grip strength and comorbidities: SABE Ecuador 2009 study

Abstract

Introduction: The increase of chronic pathologies is a consequence of the demographic transition which represents a challenge for current societies. Concurrently this motivated the development of new methods for evaluating the elderly which allow estimating their health state of health, that amongst others include the grip strength. The objective of this study was to look for the association between the number of present comorbidities and the grip strength. Materials and Methods: We analyzed data from SABE Ecuador 2009 study, a cross-sectional study that includes a probabilistic and representative sample of 5235 older adults of 60 years or older living in the community. The dependent variable was the performance in the grip strength and the sum of comorbidities as the independent variable. A linear logistic regression model was used to estimate independent associations. Results: Out of a total of 5235 people, the mean of the sum of comorbidities was 1.54 ± 1.36, and the average of the grip strength was 21.45kg ± 9.37 kg. We found a negative linear association of the grip strength and the sum of comorbidities, from one comorbidity-0.88 up to more than six comorbidities-3.52 (p <0.05). No disease by itself had a higher association with the decrease in muscle strength than having two or more concomitant afflictions. Conclusions: This study found a negative association between grip strength and the presence of comorbidities. Our results open the door to propose new studies to develop assessment tools that benefit the elderly population.