Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Clinical Cardiology, 46(10), 1173–1184. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.24063 Dr. Yu Wang et al.
Points
- Reduced handgrip strength (HGS) is common in patients with heart failure (HF).
- A systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the association between HGS and prognosis in HF patients.
- HF patients with lower HGS had a higher risk of mortality during follow-up.
- For every 1 kgf decrease in HGS, there was an 8% increased mortality risk during follow-up.
- HF patients with lower HGS were also at a higher risk of a composite outcome of HF rehospitalization or mortality.
Summary
This research paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between handgrip strength (HGS) and the prognosis of patients with heart failure (HF). The hypothesis was that reduced HGS may be a risk factor for poor prognosis in HF patients.
The researchers searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases to identify relevant observational studies with longitudinal follow-up. Fifteen studies involving 7350 patients with HF were included in the meta-analysis. A random-effects model was used to pool the results.
The pooled results showed that HF patients with lower HGS had a higher mortality risk during follow-up. The risk ratio (RR) was 2.00, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.55-2.58 (p < .001). Subgroup analysis indicated that this association was not significantly affected by characteristics such as study country, design, patient age, HF status, HF type, follow-up duration, and quality score. Further analysis revealed that for every 1 kgf decrease in HGS, there was an 8% increased mortality risk during follow-up. Additionally, HF patients with lower HGS were also at a higher risk of a composite outcome of HF rehospitalization or mortality.
In conclusion, this study suggests that a low HGS may be associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients with HF. These findings highlight the potential importance of assessing HGS as a prognostic factor in HF patients and may have implications for managing and treating HF.
Link to the article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/clc.24063
References Wang, Y., Pu, X., Zhu, Z., Sun, W., Xue, L., & Ye, J. (2023). Handgrip strength and the prognosis of patients with heart failure: A meta‐analysis. Clinical Cardiology, 46(10), 1173–1184. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.24063
