Association between muscular weakness, health conditions and lifestyles in older people

Introduction: Muscle weakness is associated with a higher risk of chronic diseases and some unhealthy lifestyles; however, these associations have not been studied in the national population. Objective: To associate muscle weakness with health conditions and lifestyles in older people. Methods: Descriptive-correlational study that included 87 people over 60 years of age, distributed in men (n= 32) and women (n= 65) from 3 community centers in Talca, Chile obtained by a non-probabilistic convenience sampling. Muscle weakness was obtained using the hand grip test. Health conditions and lifestyles were obtained by self-report and validated questionnaires. The Chi-square test was used to establish associations between hand grip strength and different health conditions and lifestyles. Results: In women, significant associations were observed between muscle weakness with excess body weight (p= 0.042), central obesity (p= 0.015), and diabetes (p= 0.041). A similar result was observed in men (p= 0.023, p= 0.014 and p= 0.011, respectively). Regarding lifestyles, physical inactivity was significantly associated with muscle weakness in older men and women. Conclusions: There is an association between muscle weakness with some health conditions and unhealthy lifestyles, which suggests the incorporation of manual grip strength as a tool for early detection of health deterioration in older people.