Associations of handgrip strength with morbidity and all-cause mortality of cardiometabolic multimorbidity

Background Cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CM) is an increasing public health and clinical concern. However, predictors for the development and prognosis of CM are poorly understood. The aims of this study were to investigate the relation between handgrip strength (HGS) and the risk of CM and to examine the association of HGS with all-cause mortality risk among patients with CM. Methods This prospective cohort study involved 493,774 participants from the UK Biobank. CM was defined as the simultaneous occurrence of two or more of the following conditions: type 2 diabetes, stroke, and coronary heart disease (CHD). Cox proportional hazards models were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Results During a median follow-up of 12.1 years, 4701 incident CM cases were documented among participants with none cardiometabolic disease at baseline. Compared with the fourth quartile (Q4), the multivariable adjusted HR (95% CI) value of Q1 of HGS for developing CM was 1.46 (1.34-1.60). In participants with one cardiometabolic disease at baseline, participants in Q1 of HGS also possessed higher risk of CM than those in Q4, with HRs (95% CIs) being 1.35 (1.23-1.49) in patients with type 2 diabetes, 1.23 (1.04-1.46) in patients with stroke, and 1.23 (1.11-1.36) in patients with CHD. For participants with CM at recruitment, HGS was also associated with the risk of all-cause mortality (Q1 vs. Q4 HR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.36-1.80). Conclusions Our study provided novel evidence that HGS could be an independent predictor of morbidity and all-cause mortality of CM.

Automated summary

This study found that handgrip strength is associated with the risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity and all-cause mortality.