ArticleBMJ open2019
Developmental factors associated with decline in grip strength from midlife to old age: a British birth cohort study.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations of Birth Size with Physical and Cognitive Function in Men and Women 60 Years and Older-Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Factors associated with handgrip strength across the life course: A systematic review.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2024Pooled it
- The phenotypic and genotypic association of grip strength with frailty, physical performance and functional limitations over time in older adults.Age and ageing · 2023Pooled it
- Genome-wide meta-analysis of muscle weakness identifies 15 susceptibility loci in older men and women.Nature communications · 2021Pooled it
- Associations between grip strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiovascular risk and mental health in forcibly displaced people from a Greek refugee camp.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Birth size modifies longitudinal associations between midlife educational level and physical function at late-life for men and women.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Adolescent IQ and performance-based measures of physical function in old age: a 54-year longitudinal study.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- The Causal Effect of Adult Height on Late-Life Handgrip Strength: The Singapore Chinese Health Study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2024Article
- Association of magnesium and vitamin D status with grip strength and fatigue in older adults: a 4-week observational study of geriatric participants undergoing rehabilitation.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2023Observational
- Associations between diabetes status and grip strength trajectory sub-groups in adulthood: findings from over 16 years of follow-up in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Milk intake across adulthood and muscle strength decline from mid- to late life: the MRC National Survey of Health and Development.The British journal of nutrition · 2023Article
- Associations between childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position and grip strength at age 46 years: findings from the 1970 British Cohort Study.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Physical capability in a rural birth cohort at the age of 52: association with early environmental, nutritional, and developmental factors.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Utility of fragility fracture prediction tools in a group of postmenopausal women.Reumatologia · 2021Article
- Associations Between Factors Across Life and One-Legged Balance Performance in Mid and Later Life: Evidence From a British Birth Cohort Study.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2020Article
- DNA Methylation Age and Physical and Cognitive Aging.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2020Article
- Article
- Functional Status as a Central Indicator of Health Status: The Role of Physiotherapy.Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo test whether developmental factors are associated with grip strength trajectories between 53 and 69 years, and operate independently or on the same pathway/s as adult factors.
designBritish birth cohort study.
settingEngland, Scotland and Wales.
participants3058 men and women.
main outcome measuresGrip strength (kg) at ages 53, 60-64 and 69 were analysed using multilevel models to estimate associations with developmental factors (birth weight, growth parameters, motor and cognitive development) and father's social class, and investigate adult factors that could explain observed associations, testing for age and sex interactions.
resultsIn men, heavier birth weight, beginning to walk 'on time', later puberty and greater weight 0-26 years and in women, heavier birth weight and earlier age at first standing were independently associated with stronger grip but not with its decline. The slower decline in grip strength (by 0.07 kg/year, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.11 per 1 SD, p=0.003) in men of higher cognitive ability was attenuated by adjusting for adult verbal memory.
conclusionsPatterns of growth and motor development have persisting associations with grip strength between midlife and old age. The strengthening associations with cognition suggest that, at older ages, grip strength increasingly reflects neural ageing processes. Interventions across life that promote muscle development or maintain muscle strength should increase the chance of an independent old age.
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