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Recommendations for Reducing Heterogeneity in Handgrip Strength Protocols

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Abstract

Handgrip dynamometers are widely used to measure handgrip strength (HGS). HGS is a safe and easy to obtain measure of strength capacity, and a reliable assessment of muscle function. Although HGS provides robust prognostic value and utility, several protocol variants exist for HGS in clinical settings and translational research. This lack of methodological consistency could threaten the precision of HGS measurements and limit comparisons between the growing number of studies measuring HGS. Providing awareness of the protocol variants for HGS and making suggestions to reduce the implications of these variants will help to improve methodological consistency. Moreover, leveraging recent advancements in HGS equipment may enable us to use more sophisticated HGS dynamometer technologies to better assess muscle function. This Special Article will 1) highlight differences in HGS protocols and instrumentation, 2) provide recommendations to better specify HGS procedures and equipment, and 3) present future research directions for studies that measure HGS. We also provided a minimum reporting criteria framework to help future research studies avoid underreporting of HGS procedures.

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Acknowledgements

None.

Funding

Funding: RAF is partially supported by the United States Department of Agriculture, under agreement No. S8-80S0-9-004, and by NIH Boston Claude D. Pepper Center (OAIC; 1P30AG031679). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article may not specifically be those of certain authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Agriculture. BCC is partially support by grants from the NIH (NIA R01AG044424 and R01AG067758).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences, NDSU Dept. 2620, North Dakota State University, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND, 58108, USA

    Ryan McGrath

  2. Fargo VA Healthcare System, Fargo, ND, USA

    Ryan McGrath

  3. California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, San Francisco Coordinating Center, San Francisco, CA, USA

    P. M. Cawthon

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    P. M. Cawthon

  5. Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

    B. C. Clark

  6. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

    B. C. Clark

  7. Division of Geriatric Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

    B. C. Clark

  8. Nutrition, Exercise Physiology, and Sarcopenia Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

    R. A. Fielding

  9. Centre for Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    J. J. Lang

  10. School of Mathematics and Statistics, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    J. J. Lang

  11. Department of Education, Health and Behavior Studies, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, USA

    G. R. Tomkinson

  12. Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

    G. R. Tomkinson

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  1. Ryan McGrath
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  2. P. M. Cawthon
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  5. J. J. Lang
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Correspondence to Ryan McGrath.

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Conflicts of Interest: RAF reports grants from Biophytis, Axcella Health, Regeneron, Lonza, and Nestlé; consulting income from Pfizer, Biophytis, and Nestlé; stock options in Inside Tracker and stock in Axcella Health. BCC reports grants from NMD Pharma and NIH, and consulting income from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

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McGrath, R., Cawthon, P.M., Clark, B.C. et al. Recommendations for Reducing Heterogeneity in Handgrip Strength Protocols. J Frailty Aging 11, 143–150 (2022). https://doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2022.21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2022.21

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