Mean Combined Relative Grip Strength and Metabolic Syndrome: 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Churilla, JR, Summerlin, M, Richardson, MR, and Boltz, AJ. Mean combined relative grip strength and metabolic syndrome: 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. J Strength Cond Res 34(4): 995-1000, 2020-The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among mean combined relative grip strength (MCRGS), the metabolic syndrome (MetS), and the individual MetS criterion using a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (≥20 years of age). The study sample included subjects from the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES). Subject MCRGS, using an average of 3 attempts per hand, was measured by a trained examiner using a handgrip dynamometer. All anthropometric, blood pressure, and serum blood measures used to diagnose the MetS were obtained in a Mobile Examination Center using a subsample of NHANES subjects (N = 4,664). Results suggest a favorable inverse dose-response relationship exists across quartiles of increased MCRGS and likelihood of MetS in both men and women (p < 0.0001 for trend). In analyses adjusted for age, race, education, and meeting aerobic physical activity recommendations, when compared with a referent group in the lowest quartile of MCRGS (MCRGS 3.20-3.77 kg/BMI in men; MCRGS >1.99-2.38 kg/BMI in women) and fourth quartile (MCRGS >3.77 kg/BMI in men; MCRGS >2.38 kg/BMI in women), were significantly less likely to have the MetS, independent of gender (p ≤ 0.05 for all). Similar findings varied according to individual MetS criterion. These findings provide the first data suggesting that increased MCRGS may be inversely related to the MetS or the individual MetS criterion in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults.