Muscle Weakness Is Associated With Diabetes in Older Mexicans: The Mexican Health and Aging Study.
Mark D Peterson, Ryan McGrath, Peng Zhang and 3 others
PMID 27450948WHAT IT FOUND
In older Mexican adults, diabetes was more common among those with weak grip strength relative to body mass.
Men: 39.3% weak vs 25.3% strong. Women: 51.0% weak vs 31.5% strong.
Key findings
01Weakness was associated with 1.69 times higher odds of diabetes (95% CI 1.37-2.10) after adjusting for age, sex, and waist circumference.
02Each 0.10 lower normalized strength was associated with 1.22 times higher odds of diabetes.
03Sex-specific weak thresholds were normalized grip strength ≤0.46 in men and ≤0.30 in women.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether low normalized grip strength causes diabetes or whether diabetes-related conditions cause low grip strength. Physical activity and nutrition were not measured, so the analysis cannot say whether these factors explain the association. Only handgrip strength was available; other muscle tests, such as quadriceps strength, were not tested. The analysed group was a sub-sample selected for physical and blood measures, not the full interview sample.
Declared interests
No conflicts-of-interest declaration is included in the supplied text. The publication types indicate research support from the NIH and a non-U.S. government source.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these grip strength categories as proof that weakness causes diabetes. The study is cross-sectional, so diabetes-related conditions could also lower grip strength.