Handgrip strength and risks of diabetic vascular complications: Evidence from Guangzhou Diabetic Eye Study and UK cohorts.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose is to investigate the association between handgrip strength (HGS) and the risk of future diabetic complications in multicountry cohorts.

Methods: The association between HGS and diabetic complications was evaluated using cox models among 84 453 patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes from the UK Biobank with a 12-year follow-up. The association between HGS and longitudinal microcirculatory damage rates was assessed among 819 patients with diabetes from the Guangzhou Diabetic Eye Study (GDES) with a 3-year follow-up. Participants were divided into three age groups (<56, 56-65 and ≥65 years), and each group was further subdivided into three HGS tertiles.

Results: A 5 kg reduction in HGS was associated with increased risk for all-cause mortality (women, HR=1.10, 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.14; p<0.001; men, HR=1.13, 95% CI: 1.11 to 1.15; p<0.001). Women and men in the lowest HGS group exhibited 1.6-times and 1.3-1.5-times higher risk of myocardial infarction and stroke compared with the highest HGS group. In men, there was a higher risk of developing end-stage renal disease (HR=1.83, 95% CI: 1.30 to 2.57; p=0.001), while this was not observed in women. Both sexes in the lowest HGS group had a 1.3-times higher risk of diabetic retinopathy compared with the highest HGS group. In the GDES group, individuals with the lowest HGS showed accelerated microcirculatory damage in retina (all p<0.05).

Conclusions: Reduced HGS is significantly associated with a higher risk of diabetic complications and accelerated microvascular damage. HGS could serve as a practical indicator of vascular health in patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes.