Handgrip strength and nutrition status in hospitalized pediatric patients.
BACKGROUND
Handgrip strength (HGS) is a useful indicator of nutrition status in adults, but evidence is lacking in pediatric patients. The aim of this study was to describe the association between undernutrition and HGS in pediatric patients at hospital admission, quantifying the modifying effect of disease severity, anthropometrics, and other patient characteristics on HGS.


METHODS
Eighty-nine inpatients aged ≥6 years consecutively admitted were recruited in a longitudinal study. Nutrition status was evaluated using body mass index (BMI) z scores, and HGS was evaluated at admission and discharge.


RESULTS
In the total sample, 30.3% of patients were undernourished at admission, and 64% lost HGS during the hospital stay. This study showed that HGS at admission was independently associated with undernutrition defined by BMI z scores (β = 0.256, P = .037). In this multivariate analysis, sex, age, height, and BMI z scores explained 67.1% of HGS at hospital admission.


CONCLUSIONS
Lower HGS may be a potential marker of undernutrition in hospitalized pediatric patients, although HGS data should be interpreted according to sex, age, and height of the patient.
Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Catarina
C
Silva
Teresa F
TF
Amaral
Diana
D
Silva
Bruno M P M
BM
Oliveira
António
A
Guerra
D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009043:Motor Activity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status
hand strength; malnutrition; nutritional status; pediatrics