Handgrip strength, ageing and mortality in rural Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

muscle strength measured as handgrip strength declines with increasing age and predicts mortality. While handgrip strength is determined by lifestyle through nutrition and physical activity, it has almost exclusively been studied in western populations with a sedentary lifestyle. This study aims to investigate the relation between handgrip strength, ageing and mortality in a population characterised by a predominance of malnutrition and manual labour.

Design

a population-based longitudinal study.

Setting

a traditional African rural population in Ghana.

Subjects

nine hundred and twenty-three community-dwelling individuals aged 50 and older.

Methods

demographic characteristics were registered. At baseline, height, body mass index (BMI) and handg

SUBMITTER: Koopman JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4411221 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature