Aging and Health Research (Sep 2022)
Association between baseline handgrip strength and cognitive function assessed before and after a 12-week resistance exercise intervention among community-living older adults
Abstract
Background: Physical activity (PA) is beneficial for the improvement of both physical and cognitive functions for older adults. Handgrip strength is strongly associated with cognition in cross-sectional studies, however, whether handgrip strength is associated with cognitive function in exercise intervention has not been well investigated. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether baseline handgrip strength is associated with cognitive function measured at baseline and after the intervention among community-living older adults. Methods: A 12-week resistance exercise program (3 times/week; 3 sets, 6–8 repetitions at 75–80% of the 1-repetition maximum) was designed to increase strength and muscle mass of major muscle groups. At the end of the study, 201 out of 237 completed the study (mean age 73.0 ± 5.5 years, 57.0% female). Body composition, PA, handgrip strength, cardiovascular risk factors, and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were measured at baseline and endpoint. The linear regression analysis was used to examine the association. Results: Baseline handgrip strength was 28.7 ± 8.7 (kg) and mean MMSE score was 27.6 ± 2.0 at baseline. We found that baseline handgrip strength was significantly associated with the MMSE score measured before the intervention adjusting basic characteristics and cardiovascular risk factors at baseline. Baseline handgrip strength was also significantly associated with MMSE measured after the intervention. One kg higher baseline handgrip strength was significantly associated with a 0.63 and 0.33 higher MMSE score measured at baseline and after the 12-week resistence exercise intervention. Discussion: Our study found that baseline handgrip strength was strongly associated with cognitive function measured before and after the resistance training intervention. Handgrip strength could be an indicator for cognition among healthy independent older adults.
