Handgrip Strength Seems Not to Be Affected by COPD Disease Progression: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Handgrip Strength Seems Not to Be Affected by COPD Disease Progression: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. COPD. 2020 Feb 19;:1-6 Authors: Kohlbrenner D, Sievi NA, Roeder M, Thurnheer R, Leuppi JD, Irani S, Frey M, Brutsche M, Brack T, Kohler M, Clarenbach CF Abstract Skeletal muscle dysfunction, functional exercise capacity impairment and reduced physical activity are characteristic features in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Assessments addressing muscle strength of the upper limb, such as measurement of handgrip strength (HGS), are rarely performed and reported. We aimed to analyze the course of HGS and possible predictors of changes in HGS over time in COPD. Yearly assessments of various disease markers were performed for a follow-up of up to seven years in a cohort of COPD patients to assess the longitudinal disease process. Data of 194 patients with at least one follow-up measurement were analyzed. HGS decreased significantly by B = -0.86 (95% CI -1.09/-0.62, p < 0.001) over time. The multivariate mixed effects model showed an independent association between greater annual declines in HGS and lower numbers of steps per day by B = 0.11 (95% CI 0.03/0.18, p = 0.006) and an enhanced change in COPD Assessment Test scores by B = -0.01 (95% CI -0.01/-0.00, p = 0.034). No evidence for an independent association between annual decline in HGS and FEV1% pred. by B = -0.01 (95% CI -0.03/0.01, p =...
Source: COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Category: Respiratory Medicine Tags: COPD Source Type: research