Grip strength may help ID type 2 diabetes risk in healthy adults

(HealthDay)—Grip strength may predict type 2 diabetes risk in healthy adults, according to a study recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Elise C. Brown, Ph.D., from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and colleagues used data from the 2011 to 2012 and 2013 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to identify 5,108 participants aged 20 to 80 years and free of common diabetes comorbidities (68.6 percent aged 20 to 50 years; 1,813 young male participants; 1,692 young female participants; 813 older male participants; 790 older female participants).

The researchers found that normalized grip strength significantly predicted diabetes. The cut points for detecting diabetes risk included 0.78 for young male participants, 0.57 for young female participants, 0.68 for older male participants, and 0.49 for older female participants. For all subgroups, the risk percentages for diabetes were comparable: younger male participants, 6.84; younger female participants, 7.49; older male participants, 5.76; and older female participants, 4.27.

"Given the low cost, minimal training requirement, and quickness of the assessment, the use of the normalized grip strength cut points in this paper could be used in routine health screenings to identify at-risk patients and improve diagnosis and outcomes," Brown said in a statement. "This type of impactful research can make a difference for practitioners and individuals."

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