Grip Strength Among Indian Nursing Students and Staff: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of Participants

Characteristic	All Participants (N = 312)	Students (n = 148)	Staff (n = 164)^a	X^2	t-test
	N (%) or M (SD)	N (%) or M (SD)	N (%) or M (SD)	P value	P value
Students in GNM program		46 (31.1%)
Students in BSc program		102 (68.9%)
Typical hours worked/week			45.81 (5.87)
Total length on job (years)			4.40 (6.87)
Gender				0.772
Female	300 (96.2%)	143 (96.6%)	157 (95.7%)
Male	12 (3.8%)	5 (3.4%)	7 (4.3%)
Age	23.61 (5.77)	20.05 (1.67)	26.74 (6.35)		0.000
BMI	22.31 (4.15)	22.18 (3.69)	22.42 (4.54)		0.623
Waist circumference	79.49 (9.82)	77.64 (8.35)	81.15 (10.74)		0.001
Hours of exercise/week	3.16 (3.72)	3.09 (4.50)	3.16 (2.95)		0.917
Exercise intensity (n = 127)				0.927
Low	45 (35.4%)	18 (12.2%)	27 (16.5%)
Medium	80 (63.0%)	33 (22.3%)	47 (28.7%)
High	2 (1.6%)	1 (0.7%)	1 (0.6%)
Practices meditation/relaxation (n = 70)	70 (22.4%)	31 (20.9%)	39 (24.1%)	0.687
Times per week	4.58 (2.70)	4.97 (2.39)	4.25 (2.92)		0.286
Perceived Stress Scale	6.92 (2.67)	7.20 (2.87)	6.68 (2.48)		0.144
Orthopedic problem reported	248 (79.5%)	119 (80.4%)	129 (78.7%)	0.950
Total number of MSK symptoms	15.11 (2.78)	14.72 (2.60)	15.47 (2.90)		0.030
Grip strength^b	23.80 (6.20)	23.75 (5.78)	23.85 (6.59)		0.896

Notes: ^aStaff includes 39 participants that also hold a faculty position. ^bGrip strength in kilograms.

Abbreviations: GNM, General Nurse Midwife; BSc, Bachelors of Science; MSK, musculoskeletal,

Table 2 Normative Hand Grip Strength for Healthy Adults in India and Grip Strength of Study Participants

Age Group	Male		n	Female		n
	Normative	Study Participants		Normative	Study Participants
	M (SD)	M (SD)		M (SD)	M (SD)
18–20	--	36.68 (6.33)	5	--	23.11 (5.62)	80
21–30	32.08 (2.39)	42.51 (8.54)	4	24.52 (2.09)	23.10 (4.95)	197
31–40	41.56 (2.24)	43.44 (2.99)	3	33.80 (1.99)	24.64 (6.88)	15
41–50	36.16 (1.50)			30.96 (2.32)	22.84 (3.61)	5
51–60	30.38 (1.93)			23.92 (1.99)	19.96 (0.96)	3

Notes: Normative values as published by Walankar et al.²⁷ All values given in kilograms.

Table 3 Bivariate Correlations of Independent Variables with Grip Strength, (2-Tailed)

Independent Variable	r
Age (n = 312)	0.055
BMI (n = 312)	0.271**
Waist circumference (n = 307)	0.278**
Number of times relaxation/meditation practiced per week (n = 72)	−0.186
Number of hours of exercise per week (n = 127)	0.017
Length of time on the job (n = 164)	0.041
Average number of hours worked per week (n = 164)	0.095
Perceived stress (n = 312)	0.026
Number of musculoskeletal symptoms (n = 310)	−0.006

Note: ** = p <0.01.

Table 4 Summary of Regression Analyses for Variables Predicting Grip Strength

Variable	B	SE B	β
Constant	10.61	2.97
Body Mass Index	0.10	0.16	0.06
Waist Circumference	0.14	0.07	0.22**
R^2	0.76
F for change in R^2	12.38***

Notes: **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.

Walankar P, Verma C, Mehta A. Study of hand grip strength in Indian population. Int J Health Sci Res. 2016;6(11):162–166.

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