Handgrip strength is associated with adverse outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19-associated pneumonia

• Published in: Internal and emergency medicine 2022-10, Vol.17 (7), p.1997-2004
• Main Authors: Pucci, Giacomo, D’Abbondanza, Marco, Curcio, Rosa, Alcidi, Riccardo, Campanella, Tommaso, Chiatti, Lorenzo, Gandolfo, Vito, Veca, Vito, Casarola, Genni, Leone, Maria Comasia, Rossi, Rachele, Alberti, Alessio, Sanesi, Leandro, Cavallo, Massimiliano, Vaudo, Gaetano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blood pressure; Body Mass Index; Cardiovascular Diseases; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - complications; COVID-19 : diagnosis; Diabetes mellitus; Female; Glomerular filtration rate; Hand Strength; Hospitalization; Humans; Im - Original; Internal Medicine; Intubation; Male; management and prognosis; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Muscle strength; Obesity; Oxygen; Patients; Pneumonia; Prognosis; Respiratory failure; Sarcopenia; Sex ratio
• ISSN: 1828-0447; 1970-9366; 1970-9366
• DOI: 10.1007/s11739-022-03060-3

Handgrip strength (HGS), a simple tool for the evaluation of muscular strength, is independently associated with negative prognosis in many diseases. It is unknown whether HGS is prognostically relevant in COVID-19. We evaluated the ability of HGS to predict clinical outcomes in people with COVID-19-related pneumonia. 118 patients (66% men, 63 ± 12 years), consecutively hospitalized to the “Santa Maria” Terni University Hospital for COVID-19-related pneumonia and respiratory failure, underwent HGS measurement (Jamar hand-dynamometer) at ward admission. HGS was normalized to weight 2/3 (nHGS) The main end-point was the first occurrence of death and/or endotracheal intubation at 14 days. Twenty-two patients reached the main end-point. In the Kaplan–Meyer analysis, the Log rank test showed significant differences between subjects with lower than mean HGS normalized to weight 2/3 (nHGS) (