ABSTRACT
This study provides new evidence on the predictable validity of grip strength on later life outcomes using a population-based longitudinal survey of middle and older generations in Japan. We show that the level of grip strength contains significant information on health outcome and mortality in the later years although the loss of grip strength does not. Moreover, we confirm that grip strength is associated with socio-economic status, particularly with educational attainment.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Clouston (Citation2013) and Zammit et al. (Citation2018) reported most of the relevant papers since 2000 showed a significant association between cognitive function decline and weak grip strength on average but there was little evidence on longitudinal associations among rates of change.
2 JSTAR is a Japanese counterpart of Health and Retirement Study (HRS) in the US and a sister of Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). See Ichimura, Hashimoto, and Shimizutani (Citation2009) for the procedure to measure grip strength.
3 The results are available upon request from the authors.
4 When choosing control variables, we referred to Hairi et al. (Citation2010) which used SHARE. For robustness checks, we have run regressions with more variables in accordance with Sternäng et al. (Citation2015) which are available in our dataset: physical activities, self-reported health, depression, dementia, musculoskeletal disorders, symptoms of hypertension, heart disease, and stroke. The main results are intact.
Clouston, S. A., P. Brewster, D. Kuh, M. Richards, R. Cooper, R. Hardy, M. S. Rubin, and S. M. Hofer. 2013. “The Dynamic Relationship between Physical Function and Cognition in Longitudinal Aging Cohorts.” Epidemiologic Reviews 35 (1): 33–50. doi:10.1093/epirev/mxs004. Zammit, A. R., A. Robitaille, A. Piccinin, G. Muniz-Terrera, and S. M. Hofer. 2018. “Associations between Aging-Related Changes in Grip Strength and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.” The Journals of Gerontology: Series A. gly046. doi:10.1093/gerona/gly046. Ichimura, H., H. Hashimoto, and S. Shimizutani. 2009. “JSTAR First Results: 2009 Report.” RIETI Discussion Paper Series 09–E–047. Hairi, F., J. Mackenbach, K. Andersen-Ranberg, and M. Avendano. 2010. “Does Socio-Economic Status Predict Grip Strength in Older Europeans? Results from the SHARE Study in Non-Institutionalised Men and Women Aged 50+.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 64 (9): 829–837. doi:10.1136/jech.2009.088476. Sternäng, O., C. A. Reynolds, D. Finkel, M. Ernsth-Bravell, N. L. Pedersen, and A. K. Dahl Aslan. 2015. “Factors Associated with Grip Strength Decline in Older Adults.” Age and Ageing 44 (2): 269–274. doi:10.1093/ageing/afu170. Additional information
Funding
This work was supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) (Grant Number 15H01951). The data work was done by Shimizutani and Yamada. The dataset is accessible through application at Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry. The views expressed in this paper are completely personal; Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research (A).
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