Correlation between Hand Grip Strength and Spirometry in Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease

Abstract

Introduction: Patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) have decreased muscle strength. In healthy young adults, hand grip strength (HGS) has been associated with lung function, specifically with the percentage of the predicted Force Expiratory Volume at 1 second (%FEV1) and the percentage of the predicted Force Vital Capacity (%FVC). The severity of ILD has been associated with HGS regardless of body composition.
Objective: To identify whether HGS influences spirometry in patients with ILD in the Mexican population.
Material and methods: Cross-sectional, observational study, included 156 subjects, 76 had ILD and 80 healthy subjects, we obtained demographic data, comorbidities and treatment of the clinical history. Spirometry and HGS were measured with a manual dynamometer during the same visit.
Results: The mean age was 62 ± 11 years and 71 ± 10 years in the ILD and control groups, respectively. The predominant gender was female, the group of healthy subjects had a higher frequency of hypertension (44% vs 32%) and use of statins (14% vs 8%). We found correlation between the %FVC and HGS in healthy subjects (r 0.24, p 0.03), while in the ILD group it was not observed.
Conclusion: The percentage of the predicted forced vital capacity has a weak correlation with the hand grip strength regardless of the body mass index in healthy subjects and do not show correlation in patients with ILD.