Association of handgrip strength with aortic stenosis among adults aged 60 years and older: evidence from the 157097 UK Biobank participants.

Objective: To examine the association of handgrip strength with aortic stenosis incidence among adults aged 60 years and older.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study using the UK Biobank data to assess the relationship between handgrip strength and incident aortic stenosis in individuals aged 60 years and older. Handgrip strength was measured using a Jamar J00105 hydraulic hand dynamometer. Adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models were conducted to assess the association between handgrip strength and incident aortic stenosis.

Results: We included 157,097 UK Biobank participants (78,151 women and 78,946 men) in our study, with mean age of 64 ± 2.9 years. During a median follow-up of 8.1 (7.4-8.8) years, 1543 (1.0%) participants developed incident aortic stenosis. Compared with those with the lowest handgrip strength (tertile 1), the adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) of incident aortic stenosis in the middle (tertile 2) and the highest (tertile 3) were 0.86 (0.77-0.97) and 0.76 (0.67-0.87), respectively.

Conclusions: Higher handgrip strength was associated with lower risk of developing aortic stenosis in older adults. Future studies warrant preventive strategies for older adults with lower handgrip strength.