Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32565244›Full record

SynthesisJournal of sport and health science2021

Handgrip strength and health outcomes: Umbrella review of systematic reviews with meta-analyses of observational studies.

Pinar Soysal, Christopher Hurst, Jacopo Demurtas, Joseph Firth, Reuben Howden, Lin Yang, Mark A Tully, Ai Koyanagi, Petre Cristian Ilie, Guillermo F López-Sánchez and 3 more

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of sport and health science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 149 papers, 15 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
149citing papers in PubMed, 15 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

149 citing papers in PubMed, 15 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Adverse Maternal and Neonatal Health Outcomes: an Umbrella review of Meta-Analyses.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Pooled it
  10. Pooled it
  11. Pooled it
  12. Pooled it
  13. Predictive value of preoperative handgrip strength on postoperative outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022
    Pooled it
  14. Pooled it
  15. Pooled it
  16. Trial
  17. Trial
  18. Trial
  19. Article
  20. Delivering prehabilitation in cancer surgery: a service evaluation at Nottingham University Hospitals.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Observational

89 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

13 authors.

Pinar SoysalDepartment of Geriatric Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul 34093, Turkey.
Christopher HurstInstitute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
Jacopo DemurtasPrimary Care Department, Azienda Usl Toscana Sud Est, Grosseto 52100, Italy.
Joseph FirthDivision of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Reuben HowdenCollege of Health & Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Long Beach, CA 90815, USA.
Lin YangDepartment of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research, Alberta Health Services, Holy Cross Centre, AlbertaT5J 3E4, Canada.
Mark A TullySchool of Health Sciences, Institute of Mental Health Sciences, Ulster University, Newtownabbey BT15 1ED, UK.
Ai KoyanagiResearch and Development Unit, Sant Joan de Déu Health Park, CIBER of Mental Health (CIBERSAM), Barcelona 08003, Spain; ICREA, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, Barcelona 08010, Spain.
Petre Cristian IlieThe Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, King's Lynn PE30 4ET, UK.
Guillermo F López-SánchezFaculty of Sport Sciences, University of Murcia, Murcia 30100, Spain.
Lukas SchwingshacklInstitute for Evidence in Medicine, Medical Center-University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg 79085, Germany.
Nicola VeroneseNeuroscience Institute, Aging Branch, National Research Council, Padua 35122, Italy. Electronic address: ilmannato@gmail.com.
Lee SmithThe Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK. Electronic address: lee.smith@anglia.ac.uk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe aim of the present study was to assess both the credibility and strength of evidence arising from systematic reviews with meta-analyses of observational studies on handgrip strength and health outcomes.

methodsAn umbrella review of systematic reviews with meta-analyses of observational studies was conducted. We assessed meta-analyses of observational studies based on random-effect summary effect sizes and their p values, 95% prediction intervals, heterogeneity, small-study effects, and excess significance. We graded the evidence from convincing (Class I) to weak (Class IV).

resultsFrom 504 articles returned in a search of the literature, 8 systematic reviews were included in our review, with a total of 11 outcomes. Overall, nine of the 11 of the outcomes reported nominally significant summary results (p < 0.05), with 4 associations surviving the application of the more stringent p value (p < 10

conclusionThe present results show that handgrip strength is a useful indicator for general health status and specifically for early all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, as well as disability. To further inform intervention strategies, future research is now required to fully understand mechanisms linking handgrip strength scores to these health outcomes.

Indexed as

Cause of DeathHand StrengthHealth StatusAgedAged, 80 and overBiasCardiovascular DiseasesHospitalizationHumansLocomotionMeta-Analysis as TopicObservational Studies as TopicPostural BalanceProbabilityRenal Insufficiency, ChronicRiskHandgrip strengthHealth outcomesMeta-analysisUmbrella review

Identifiers

PMID32565244
PMCPMC8167328

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.