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. 2020 Apr 29;20(1):114.
doi: 10.1186/s12890-020-1155-5.

Better pulmonary function is associated with greater handgrip strength in a healthy Chinese Han population

Liangmei Chen  1   2 , Xiaomin Liu  2 , Qian Wang  2 , Linpei Jia  2 , Kangkang Song  2 , Sasa Nie  2 , Yinping Zhang  2 , Dan Cao  2 , Delong Zhao  2 , Zuoxiang Li  2 , Zheyi Dong  2 , Ying Zheng  2 , Shuwei Duan  2 , Xuefeng Sun  2 , Zhe Feng  2 , Guangyan Cai  2 , Weiguang Zhang  3 , Xiangmei Chen  4   5
Affiliations

Better pulmonary function is associated with greater handgrip strength in a healthy Chinese Han population

Liangmei Chen et al. BMC Pulm Med. .

Abstract

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) has been widely studied in clinical and epidemiological settings, but the relationship between HGS and pulmonary function is still controversial. This study analysed pulmonary function and HGS stratified by sex and age in a healthy Chinese Han population, as well as the associations between HGS and pulmonary function parameters.

Methods: HGS was measured by a Jamar dynamometer and pulmonary function was tested using a portable spirometer. Frequencies and variables are presented as percentages and means ± standard deviations, respectively. Chi-square tests were used for comparisons of categorical variables, and Student's t-tests or Mann-Whitney U-tests were used for continuous variables. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to analyse the normally distributed variables, and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to analyse the non-normally distributed variables. Multivariate linear regression models were employed to explore the relationships between HGS and parameters of pulmonary function. The statistical significance was set at p < 0.01.

Results: Cross-sectional data were available for 1519 subjects (59.0% females, 57.9 ± 13.3 years old). Males had higher average HGS than females (40.2 vs. 25.0 kg, p < 0.01), as well as better pulmonary function. Both HGS and pulmonary function parameters were significantly inversely correlated with age (r ≤ - 0.30, p < 0.01). The maximum value of vital capacity (VC max), forced expiratory volume in 3 s (FEV 3) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were strongly correlated with HGS among the pulmonary function indices (r = 0.72, 0.70 and 0.69, respectively, p < 0.001). In the multivariate linear regression analysis, HGS and height were positively correlated, while age and pulse pressure were negatively correlated with HGS. In males, the FVC, VC max and FEV3 increased by 0.02 L, 0.023 L and 0.03 L in per 1 kg increase in HGS, respectively. The HGS coefficients for females were smaller than those for males.

Conclusions: Both pulmonary function and HGS were inversely correlated with age, and better pulmonary function was associated with greater handgrip strength.

Keywords: Age; Chinese; Forced vital capacity; Handgrip strength; Pulmonary function.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart for the enrolment of research subjects
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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