The Relationship between Handgrip Strength and Health in Elderly

Abstract

There are many changes in the human body during aging. One of these changes is decrease of muscle strength. Skeletal muscle has an important function. Therefore, preserving muscle strength and mass are very important. Handgrip strength is a reliable method of measuring muscle strength and it can be measured with different dynamometers. It has been reported that handgrip strength is affected by unchangeable factors such as age, gender, genetic structure and interchangeable factors such as nutrition, exercise, and diseases. It is also suggested that handgrip strength should be used as an important health outcomes in studies. For this reason, it is important to determine the national reference data of handgrip strengths in elderly and make use of the available handgrip strengths for evaluation of nutritional status.