Examining Handgrip Strength in Persons Living With HIV in United States, Thailand, and South Africa: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Kathleen M Nokes, Christine Horvat Davey, Dudu G Sokhela and 10 others
PMID 41263438WHAT IT FOUND
People living with HIV had lower handgrip strength than age and gender reference norms at every age group.
In women, strength decreased with age; low grip was not linked to medication adherence or physical, social, or pain scores.
Key findings
01For every age range tested, handgrip strength in people living with HIV differed significantly from NIH reference norms.
02In women living with HIV, handgrip strength was significantly higher at ages 30 to 39 years than at ages 50 to 59 or 60 to 69 years; in men, age did not significantly affect grip strength.
03The lowest 20% grip strength group did not differ significantly from the upper 80% group in medication adherence, physical function, social health, or pain interference.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional exploratory study, so it cannot show that aging caused the handgrip differences or that low grip caused any outcome. Participants older than 70 years and those without an age were excluded, so it does not describe handgrip strength in people over 70. The comparison used NIH reference norms from a separate United States sample, while the HIV sample came from the United States, Thailand, and South Africa. Handgrip data were subsetted to remove people with large differences between hands, which may change how applicable the findings are to patients with asymmetric weakness. Medication adherence was measured by one self-report item, not an objective adherence measure.
Declared interests
The paper reports no funding or author conflict-of-interest statement.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that weak handgrip strength causes poor medication adherence or worse physical function. The lower 20% handgrip group did not differ significantly from the upper 80% on medication adherence, physical function, social health, or pain interference.