Handgrip strength and depression among 34,129 adults aged 50 years and older in six low- and middle-income countries

Handgrip strength is a simple and inexpensive marker of health and mortality risk. It presents anideal risk-stratifying method for use in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). There are, however, no po-pulation-based studies investigating the associations between handgrip strength and depression in LMICs. Weaimed to assess these associations among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults using nationallyrepresentative data from six LMICs.Method:Cross-sectional data on individuals aged>=50 years from the World Health Organization's Study onGlobal Ageing and Adult Health were analyzed. Depression was based on the Composite International DiagnosticInterview. Weak handgrip strength was defined as < 30 kg for men and < 20 kg for women using the averagevalue of two handgrip measurements of the dominant hand. Multivariable logistic regression analysis wasconducted.Results:The sample included 34,129 individuals (62.4 ± 16.0 years; 52.1% female). The prevalence of weakhandgrip strength and depression were 47.4% and 6.2%, respectively. Individuals with weak handgrip strengthhad a higher prevalence of depression than those without this condition (8.8% vs. 3.8%;p< 0.001). Across allcountries, after adjustment for potential confounders, weak handgrip strength was associated with a 1.45(95%CI = 1.12-1.88) times higher odds for depression, although some between-country differences were noted.Discussion:Weaker handgrip strength is associated with higher odds for depression in LMICs. Future researchshould seek to establish the predictive value of this inexpensive measure for clinical use. Furthermore, inter-ventional studies should examine if muscular strength can be a target of resistance-training interventions toaddress depressive symptoms in low-resourced settings