Convenient Screening of Latent Preliminary Group of Locomotive Syndrome by Measurement of Handgrip Strength

The association between the latent preliminary group of locomotive syndrome (LS) and handgrip strength was investi-gated among 96 women over age 40 years who attended health promotion events that were held 5 times between Sep. 2016 and Nov. 2019. The latent preliminary group of LS was evaluated based on three factors: bone mineral density, muscle mass and toe grip strength as an evaluation of the balance ability. The ratios of participants that declined in each factor were 82.3 ％ , 36.5 ％ and 26.0 ％ , respectively. There was a significant relationship between handgrip strength and bone mineral density, muscle mass and toe grip strength. Participants were divided into two groups based on the number of factors since it is accompanied by the functional decline of the plural locomotive organs for the onset of LS. Participants with zero or one factor were categorized as the “ non-pre-LS group ” . Participants with two or three factors were categorized as the “ latent pre-LS group ” . There was a significant difference between the median value of handgrip strength between the non-pre-LS group and the latent pre-LS group. ROC analysis indicated the cut-off value of handgrip strength corre-sponding to latent pre-LS was 26.0 kg, which was 6.13 as the odds ratio estimated by logistic regression analysis. The measurement of handgrip strength might be a convenient screening tool for latent pre-LS in the community pharmacy.