Association of Hand Grip Strength with Subjective Health and Work Ability. Results of the Baseline Survey of the lidA Study

Aim: In the BMBF-funded lidA study - leben in der Arbeit - hand grip strength is taken as an objective measure for describing the health of the study population. The aim is to analyse the - association of grip strength with characteristics of subjective health and work ability. Methods: During the 1st investigation in 2011 there were 6 585 interviews with employed persons born in 1959 and 1965 and subject to social insurance contributions. The survey included aspects of employment and health. The maximum isometric hand grip strength was determined with a dynamometer from a series of 4 measurements. The examination refers to 6 195 employed persons who approved the realisation of the grip strength test. The determinants of grip strength are analysed bivariately based on non-parametric methods and examined concerning their relative importance using a multiple linear regression. Results: In the descriptive analyses statistically significant median differences (p < 0.05) appear between men and women as well as persons of the younger and older cohort. After excluding implausible values some statistically significant differences in grip strength can be observed between the categories of current health condition, physical and mental work ability and the number of pain localisations. The trend for the larger grip strength occurrences can be noted in the categories of better health and work ability plus a smaller number of pain localisations. From the combined analysis of the explanatory variables of age, BMI, health and work ability within the estimated regression model results a corrected R-2 of 0.036 for men or, respectively, 0.05 for women. Conclusion: Between the categories of selected health and work ability related variables some statistically significant differences of grip strength (+/- 0.0-4.0 kg) were observed. However, the variability of grip strength cannot be explained sufficiently by the data used. Although the results obtained support the preliminary assumptions, the relevance of this matter could not be resolved adequately with the data under consideration. Given that analysing grip strength is important in the individual temporal process, the results will be extended by longitudinal analyses to facilitate the analysis of hand grip strength as predictor of the development of individual health.