2211-PUB: Hand Grip Strength Predicts Mortality Independently from Type 2 Diabetes and the Presence of Coronary Artery Disease

Hand grip strength (HGS) is widely used as a simple, inexpensive and non-invasive diagnostic parameter for frailty and sarcopenia. Low HGS in community-dwelling populations has been reported to predict a higher mortality risk. Whether this association is independent from the presence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and pre-existing coronary artery disease (CAD) is not known and is addressed in the present study. We prospectively recorded deaths over a mean follow-up time of 9.2±3.1 years in a cohort of 845 subjects in whom the baseline CAD state was determined angiographically. At baseline, HGS was higher in male than in female participants (41.5±10.3 vs. 24.0±5.06 kg; p<0.001); it did not differ significantly between patients with T2DM and nondiabetic subjects. Prospectively, low HGS predicted overall mortality both in men and women, with standardized adjusted HRs of 0.90 [0.83-0.99]; p=0.035 and HR 0.65 [0,50-0,82]; p<0.001 after multivariate adjustment including T2DM and the presence of CAD at baseline. We conclude that low hand grip strength predicts mortality independently from T2DM and the presence of CAD.