(P22-067-25) Association Between Healthy Lifestyle Scores and Hand Grip Strength Among Korean Older Adults

Objectives: Studies have shown that individual lifestyle factors, such as healthy diet and physical activity, are associated with muscle strength. However, little is known about the combined association between lifestyle factors and muscle strength, particularly in non-Western populations. This study examined the association between combined healthy lifestyle scores and handgrip strength in Korean elderly population.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 4,152 Korean older adults (aged ≥65 years) from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2014-2019. A healthy lifestyle score (range 0-6) was created by summing up the scores from each of following 6 self-reported healthy lifestyle factors: never smoking, sleeping an average of 5–7 h/d, non-drinking or moderate drinking, performing ≥150 min/week moderate-intensity physical activity (equivalent to ≥75 min/week vigorous-intensity activity), performing ≥2 d/week muscle-strengthening exercises, and having adequate protein intake (≥ 0.8 g/kg of body weight). Handgrip strength was assessed using a digital grip strength dynamometer. According to the 2019 consensus of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia, high handgrip strength was defined as ≥28 kg for men and ≥18 kg for women. We performed multivariable logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between healthy lifestyle score and high handgrip strength, adjusting for potential confounders and stratifying by sex.

Results: Among men, healthy lifestyle score (5-6 vs 0-1) was positively associated with high handgrip strength (OR [95% CI] = 5.09 [2.97-8.72], P-trend <0.0001). In women, a slightly lower magnitude of positive association was observed with high handgrip strength (OR [95% CI] = 2.13 [0.99-4.59], P-trend = 0.38). The interaction by sex was statistically significant (P-interaction  <0.0001).

Conclusions: Our data suggest that combined healthy lifestyles are positively associated with greater handgrip strength in both male and female Korean older adults, with a stronger association observed in men.

Funding Sources: BK21 Four Institute of Precision Public Health