A Study on Handgrip Strength in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The purpose of the present study was to observe the effect of type-2 diabetes mellitus on handgrip strength in males and females of Amritsar, Punjab and to search any relationship of handgrip strength with 22 anthropometric variables in them. Study group consisted of 576 confirmed cases of type-2 diabetes mellitus (251 males, 325 females) with a mean duration of diabetes of more than 5 years, and 529 controls (241 males, 288 females) without any history of glucose intolerance from Amritsar, Punjab. The subjects ranged from age group of 30-65 years. A total of 1072 (97.05%) samples studied were right hand dominant. The subjects were taken from the rural and urban belt of Amritsar. The subjects' age was estimated from their birth date. The data was collected from Civil Hospital Amritsar, Civil Hospital Ajnala, Dr. Rohit Kapoor's Clinic, Rani Ka Bagh and Camp at Attari. Before the commencement of the study, the subjects were made aware about the study and a written consent was obtained. Approval for the study was provided by the institutional ethical committee. Other than the evaluation of dominant and non-dominant handgrip strength, as many as 22 anthropometric variables namely height vertex, body weight, body mass index, upper arm, waist and hip circumference, biceps and triceps skinfold, upper arm, forearm and total arm length, hand length, breadth and span, arm muscle girth, arm muscle area, arm area, arm fat area, arm fat index, waist to hip ratio, % body fat and % lean body mass were measured. Standard techniques given by Lohmann et al. (1988) were followed to take all the anthropometric measurements on each subject. In the present study, statistically significant differences (p<0.03-0.001) were observed in dominant and non-dominant handgrip strength, age, upper arm, waist and hip circumference, biceps and triceps skinfold, arm muscle girth, arm muscle area, arm area and arm fat area between the patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus and controls. In the present study, significant reduction (p¿0.001) in dominant and non-dominant handgrip strength was reported in diabetic males in comparison to control males. Diabetic males had significantly greater (p¿0.03-0.001) mean values in age, body weight, body mass index, upper arm and hip circumference, biceps and triceps skinfold, arm area, arm fat area, arm fat index, waist to hip ratio and % body fat, and significantly lower (p¿0.001) mean value of % lean body mass than their control counterparts.