Reliability and Reference Values For Handgrip Strength Among Healthy Young Adults.

PURPOSE: Isometric grip strength, evaluated with a handgrip dynamometer, is a marker of current nutritional status and cardiometabolic risk and future morbidity and mortality. We present reference values for handgrip strength in healthy young Colombian adults (aged 18 to 29 years). METHODS: The sample comprised 5.647 (2.330 men and 3.317 women) apparently healthy young university students (mean age, 20.6±2.7 years) attending public and private institutions in the cities of Bogota and Cali (Colombia). Handgrip strength was measured two times with a TKK analogue dynamometer in both hands and the highest value used in the analysis. Intrarater reliability was assessed by determining the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Sex- and age-specific normative values for handgrip strength were calculated using the LMS method and expressed as tabulated percentiles from 3 to 97 and as smoothed centile curves. RESULTS: Mean values for right and left handgrip strength were 38.1±8.9 and 35.9±8.6 kg for men, and 25.1±8.7 and 23.3±8.2 kg for women, respectively. Handgrip strength increased with age in both sexes and was significantly higher in men in all age categories. Agreement between repetitions was observed in each assessment (ICC=0,562, CI95% 0.443 to 0.645).The results were generally more homogeneous amongst men than women. CONCLUSIONS: Sex- and age-specific handgrip strength normative values among healthy young Colombian adults are defined. This information may be helpful in future studies of secular trends in handgrip strength and to identify clinically relevant cut points for poor nutritional and elevated cardiometabolic risk in a Latin American population.