Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25331975›Full record

ArticleAge and ageing2015

Handgrip strength, ageing and mortality in rural Africa.

Jacob J E Koopman, David van Bodegom, Diana van Heemst, Rudi G J Westendorp

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Age and ageing, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Observational
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Sarcopenia.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2024
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  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Hand grip strength in venous thromboembolism: risk of recurrence and mortality.Research and practice in thrombosis and haemostasis · 2023
    Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Predicting strength from aggressive vocalizations versus speech in African bushland and urban communities.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Jacob J E KoopmanDepartment of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Post Box 9600, Leiden 2300 RC, The Netherlands Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, Leiden 2333 AA, The Netherlands.
David van BodegomDepartment of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Post Box 9600, Leiden 2300 RC, The Netherlands Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, Leiden 2333 AA, The Netherlands.
Diana van HeemstDepartment of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Post Box 9600, Leiden 2300 RC, The Netherlands Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, Leiden 2333 AA, The Netherlands Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Ageing (NCHA), Leiden University Medical Center, Post Box 9600, Leiden 2300 RC, The Netherlands.
Rudi G J WestendorpDepartment of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Post Box 9600, Leiden 2300 RC, The Netherlands Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, Leiden 2333 AA, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundmuscle strength measured as handgrip strength declines with increasing age and predicts mortality. While handgrip strength is determined by lifestyle through nutrition and physical activity, it has almost exclusively been studied in western populations with a sedentary lifestyle. This study aims to investigate the relation between handgrip strength, ageing and mortality in a population characterised by a predominance of malnutrition and manual labour.

designa population-based longitudinal study.

settinga traditional African rural population in Ghana. SUBJECTS: nine hundred and twenty-three community-dwelling individuals aged 50 and older.

methodsdemographic characteristics were registered. At baseline, height, body mass index (BMI) and handgrip strength were measured and compared with those in a western reference population. Survival of the participants was documented during a period of up to 2 years.

resultshandgrip strength was dependent on age, sex, height and BMI. Compared with the western reference population, handgrip strength was lower due to a lower height and BMI but declined over age similarly. Risk of mortality was lower in participants having higher handgrip strength, with a hazard ratio of 0.94 per kg increase (P = 0.002). After adjustment for age, sex, tribe, socio-economic status, drinking water source, height and BMI, only handgrip strength remained predictive of mortality.

conclusionin a traditional rural African population characterised by malnutrition and manual labour, handgrip strength declines over age and independently predicts mortality similar to western populations. Handgrip strength can be used as a universal marker of ageing.

Indexed as

Hand StrengthMortalityAgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsAgingBody HeightBody Mass IndexFemaleGhanaHumansMaleMiddle AgedRural PopulationSex FactorsAfricaageinghandgrip strengthmortalityolder people

Identifiers

PMID25331975
PMCPMC4411221

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.