A meta-analysis of 42 cohorts and 3 million people found 16% higher mortality per 5 kg of lower grip
What does the pooled evidence say about grip strength and death?
The finding
Per 5 kg lower grip, the all-cause mortality hazard ratio was 1.16 (1.12–1.20). The relation was linear up to a grip of 56 kg and did not differ by sex.
- Authors
- Wu Y, Wang W, Liu T, Zhang D
- Published
- Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 18(6):551.e17–551.e35 · 2017
- Evidence
- Read in the primary source; numbers checked.
- Source
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2017.03.011
How it was studied
Meta-analysis of 42 prospective cohort studies of community-dwelling people; 3,002,203 participants.
The numbers
Lowest against highest grip category: all-cause mortality 1.41 (1.30–1.52), cardiovascular disease 1.63 (1.36–1.96).
Per 5 kg lower: cardiovascular disease 1.21 (1.14–1.29), stroke 1.09 (1.05–1.14), coronary heart disease 1.07 (1.03–1.11). Cancer was not significant at 1.01 (0.98–1.05).
What it does not show
Pooled observational data. The included studies used different grip methods and dynamometers, which shifts readings by several kilograms.
What Longstanding does with it
Three independent sources land on the same 16% per 5 kg, which is why we treat grip as the strongest-evidenced strength test in the battery. The device problem is why the app asks you to use the same dynamometer every quarter.
Tests this bears on
Related
- The link between grip and mortality is close to linear between about 26 and 50 kgLópez-Bueno R · 2022
- Electronic dynamometers read about 4–5 kg higher than hydraulic or spring devicesLessof C · 2023
- Each 5 kg of lower grip strength went with about 16% higher mortality across 17 countriesLeong DP · 2015