title: Mortality in the Hertfordshire Ageing Study: association with level and loss of hand grip strength in later life.
abstract: weak hand grip strength in later life is a risk factor for disability, morbidity and mortality and is central to definitions of sarcopenia and frailty. It is unclear whether rate of change in grip strength adds to level of grip strength as a risk factor for poor ageing outcomes.
  
  
  
  study participants were 292 community-dwelling men and women whose grip strength was measured during the 1994/5 (average age 67) and 2003/5 (average age 76) phases of the Hertfordshire Ageing Study, UK. Individual rate of change in grip strength was estimated using a residual change method. Mortality was followed-up to 2011 (42 men and 21 women died).
  
  
  
  average grip strengths in 2003/5 were 38.4 kg (standard deviation [SD] = 8.1) and 23.7 kg (SD = 6.6) for men and women respectively. Average annualised rates of change in grip strength (2003/5 minus 1994/5) were modest owing to a healthy-participant effect (men: -0.12 kg/y, SD = 0.71; women: 0.08 kg/y, SD = 0.54) but varied widely. Mortality risk varied according to level and rate of change in grip strength (P = 0.03); death rates per 100 person years of follow-up were 6.7 (95% CI: 4.6, 9.6) among participants who lost grip over time and had low grip in 2003/5, in contrast with 0.8 (95% CI: 0.1, 5.8) among participants whose grip changed little over time and remained high in 2003/5.
  
  
  
  levels of grip strength in later life should be considered in conjunction with estimates of change in grip strength identified by repeat measurement over time. Normative data for longitudinal change in grip strength are required.
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: Holly Emma
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Syddall
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: Leo David
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Westbury
authors.affiliation: Academic Geriatric Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dodds
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.|Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dennison
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.|NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.|NIHR Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: Cyrus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.|NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Wessex, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.|Newcastle University Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.|NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, Newcastle University and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: Avan Aihie
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sayer
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: change; epidemiology; longevity; older people; physical function; sarcopenia