Revista Medica de Chile · Nov 2020

Prevalence of low hand grip strength in Chilean older adults. Findings from the national health survey 2016-2017

By Concha-Cisternas Y, Cigarroa I, Matus-Castillo C et al.

BACKGROUND: Handgrip strength is an indicator of frailty in older people. AIM: To determine the prevalence of low handgrip strength in older Chilean adults. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis of 244 individuals aged 60 years or more, participating in the 2016-2017 Chilean National Health Survey, was carried out. Handgrip strength was evaluated by a hand dynamometer and low grip strength was determined as a grip strength ≤ 15 kg and ≤ 27 kg for women and men, respectively. RESULTS: Twenty nine percent of participants had low grip strength. The average grip strength among 60-year-old men and women was 34.7 and 22.1 kg, respectively. These figures decreased to 28.8 kg and 17.2 kg among 90-year-old men and women, respectively. The prevalence of low grip strength in men and women aged 60 years was 18%. In 90-year-old men and women, these figures increased to 79% and 56.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of low grip strength increased substantially with age.

doi.org/10.4067/s0034-98872020001101598 Open access PubMed 33844765 Populations