Associations between handgrip strength and vitamin 25(OH)D levels in geriatric patients

Abstract

Introduction: Thirty percent of the muscle mass is lost between the third and eighth decades of life. Vitamin D may have different roles in different aspects of the muscle cell function. Aim: To assess the correlation between vitamin 25(OH)D levels, handgrip strength (HGS), and finger pinch strength (FPS) in elderly. Materials and methods: This was a clinical observational study. It included a total of 92 patients of 65 years and over with good general health status and 66 young healthy volunteers. They all underwent HGS and FPS measurements. Study groups were further stratified into those with a serum 25(OH)D levels higher than 30 ng/dl and those with lower than 30 ng/dl. Results: When geriatric patients were divided into two groups based on 25(OH)D levels, no statistically significant intergroup differences were found in FPS (p>0.05) while statistically significant differences were found in HGS (p<0.05). The analysis of the correlations between HGS and 25(OH)D concentrations revealed a positive, statistically significant correlation between these two parameters at r= 0.330 (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that serum vitamin 25(OH)D levels have an impact on HGS in both geriatric group and control group.