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Normative reference values of the handgrip strength for the Portuguese workers.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION:The active workforce is increasingly aging. However workload, as well as working time and intensity, sometimes remains unchanged. This can be an even more critical situation in older people, since occupational exposure associated with aging, will further reduce the muscle's ability to generate energy, which in turn facilitates the development of these age-related syndromes. This study aims to identify the normative values of handgrip strength for Portuguese workers in the automotive industry. METHODS:About 1225 employees were invited to participate in the study. The final sample consisted of 656 employees in the assembly area. The handgrip strength was measured in kilograms (kg) using the Jamar digital dynamometer. Sex-specific profiles of handgrip strength were designed by the Ordinary Least Square regression (OLS) analysis, where height, age, age squared, and height squared are entered into the models as determining factors of the maximum grip strength in both female and male groups. RESULTS:The peak mean values of handgrip strength in the group of women was 34 kg in the age group of 35-39 years, and in the group of men the peak mean was 52 kg in the age group of 25-34 years. The most pronounced decline in the female group appears in the age of 30-34 years of about 4 kg and the male group the decline occurs at 2kg below the peak force, in the age group of 40-57 year-olds. This study used a cut-off at 2 SD below by the sex-specific peak mean. CONCLUSION:Normative values can help delineate the career path of workers because they portray risk values according to age, height, and gender. The normative values assist health and engineering professionals and ergonomists in adjusting task demands to the morphological and strength characteristics of the workers.

SUBMITTER: Bernardes SMF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7406054 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Normative reference values of the handgrip strength for the Portuguese workers.

Bernardes Sarah Moreira Fernandes SMF Assunção Ana A Fujão Carlos C Carnide Filomena F

PloS one 20200805 8

<h4>Introduction</h4>The active workforce is increasingly aging. However workload, as well as working time and intensity, sometimes remains unchanged. This can be an even more critical situation in older people, since occupational exposure associated with aging, will further reduce the muscle's ability to generate energy, which in turn facilitates the development of these age-related syndromes. This study aims to identify the normative values of handgrip strength for Portuguese workers in the au ...[more]

PMID: 32756598

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Project description:ObjectiveThe purposes of this study were three-fold: (i) to describe handgrip strength in older individuals aged ≥60 years in Colombia; (ii) to identify sex-specific and age-specific muscle weakness cut-off points in older adults; and (iii) to determine the odds of adverse events for each of the intrinsic capacity domains for individuals with handgrip strength greater than the muscle weakness cut-off points, as compared with their weaker counterparts.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Colombia, among 5237 older adults aged ≥60 years old (58.5% women, 70.5 ± 7.8 years), according to 'SABE Survey 2015'. Handgrip strength data were obtained with a Takei dynamometer. Sociodemographic variables, five domains of intrinsic capacity (i.e. locomotion, vitality, cognition, psychological, and sensory), and medical conditions were assessed and analyzed. Adjustments variables were age, ethnicity, socio-economic status, urbanicity, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol intake, drug use, physical activity, and co-morbid chronic diseases. Sex-stratified analyses were conducted with logistic regression models.ResultsHandgrip strength was greater among men than among women (26.7 ± 8.5 vs. 16.7 ± 5.7 kg, respectively, P < 0.001) at all ages. Weak handgrip strength cut-off points ranged from 17.4 to 8.6 and from 10.1 to 4.9 in men and women, respectively. Overall, participants with optimal handgrip strength had better intrinsic capacity [in men, odds ratio (OR) = 0.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53 to 0.71; P < 0.001; and in women, OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.92; P = 0.002] than their weaker counterparts. Also, men with optimal handgrip strength had a lower risk of hospitalization (OR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.78; P = 0.004) than their weaker counterparts.ConclusionsThis study is the first to describe handgrip strength values and cut-off points for muscle weakness among a nationally representative sample of Colombian older adults by age and sex. After categorizing older adults as weak or not weak based on the handgrip cut-off points, non-weakness was associated with a decreased odds of intrinsic capacity impairments. These cut-off points may be good candidates for clinical assessment of risks to physical and mental health in older Colombian adults.

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Normative reference values of the handgrip strength for the Portuguese workers.

Publications

Normative reference values of the handgrip strength for the Portuguese workers.

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