Weakened Grip Strength Over 40 Years in a Community-Dwelling Cohort in Tanushimaru, Japan.

Background: An epidemiological survey has been periodically performed since 1977 among the adult population in Tanushimaru, a typical farming town in Japan. We aimed in this study to retrospectively investigate changes of grip strength (GS) and its correlates over 40 years in the same cohort of community-dwelling adults. We used pooled data from the survey to deduce essential correlates of GS in community-dwelling adults.

Methods: We retrospectively compared serial correlates of GS in the adult population in Tanushimaru between a population tested in 1977 and 1979 (Cohort A, n=2,452) and another population tested in 2016 and 2018 (Cohort B, n=1,505), to identify essential correlates of GS for investigating changes in GS during the past 40 years in community-dwelling adults.

Results: Age, height, weight, and the occupation of the subjects remained as correlates of GS in both genders during the past 40 years. In males, abdominal circumference also remained as a correlate of GS. Serum albumin levels in males and systolic blood pressure in females were identified as new correlates. GS after adjustment for the above correlates weakened in both genders, and the serial change in GS was particularly remarkable in subjects whose occupations were Class-1 and Class-2, which were defined as moderately hard work.

Conclusions: From a periodically-performed epidemiological survey of a community-dwelling cohort in a Japanese typical farming town, age, height, weight, and occupation were deduced as essential correlates of GS. GS in the community dwelling cohort weakened in both genders over 40 years, possibly affected by their occupation.