title: [Hand grip strength: can this be a prognostic factor for mortality in palliative care patients?].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether hand grip strength (HGS) is a prognostic factor for mortality in a palliative care unit (PCU), using two variables: A1: The HP on admission; A2: The progression of the HGS in the first 12days of admission.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, observational and comparative study of patients with advanced cancer admitted consecutively over a 4 month period into a PCU. A series of 4 determinations of HGS were made using a JAMAR(®) 5030J1 dynamometer. A total of 78 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria, of which 61 (78.2%) agreed to take part.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Objective A1: Of the 61 enrolled patients, the survivors (n=25) differed by -1.8 (Standard Deviation (SD) 0.8) from the reference values for age and gender, and for those that died (n=36) it was -1.9 (1.1) (P=.6). A survival analysis was performed with this sample. The sample was subdivided into those who were > -2 SD (n=34) and those < -2 SD (n=27) (P=.3). Those patients who managed 4 determinations (n=49) were included in objective A2. At discharge there were 26 deaths and 23 alive. There were no statistically significant differences between the determinations. Only the comparison between the difference between the 4th and 1st determination in the two groups showed a significant result (P=.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The HGS measured at admission, as well as in the first 12days, was not a prognostic factor for mortality in the sample studied.
authors: Servicio de Geriatría, Instituto de Geriatría (IGER), Hospital de la Esperanza, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, España. DColprim@parcdesalutmar.cat
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Colprim Galceran
authors: Cristina
authors: C
authors: Farriols Danés
authors: Teresa
authors: T
authors: Prat Clusellas
authors: Montserrat
authors: M
authors: Luna Aranda
authors: Josep Maria
authors: JM
authors: Muniesa Portolés
authors: José
authors: J
authors: Planas Domingo