Handgrip Strength Values Depend on Tumor Entity and Predict 180-Day Mortality in Malnourished Cancer Patients.

Tribolet, Pascal; Kaegi-Braun, Nina; Gressies, Carla; Baumgartner, Annic; Wagner, Karl-Heinz; Stanga, Zeno; Schuetz, Philipp (2022). Handgrip Strength Values Depend on Tumor Entity and Predict 180-Day Mortality in Malnourished Cancer Patients. Nutrients, 14(10) MDPI 10.3390/nu14102173

Preview

Text nutrients-14-02173-v2.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (282kB) | Preview

BACKGROUND

Cancer-related malnutrition is a prevalent condition associated with a loss of muscle mass and impaired functional status, leading to immunodeficiency, impaired quality of life and adverse clinical outcomes. Handgrip strength (HGS) is a practical measure to assess muscle strength in individual patients during clinical practice. However, HGS reference values refer to populations of healthy people, and population-specific values, such as those in the population of cancer patients, still need to be defined.

METHODS

Within a secondary analysis of a previous randomized controlled nutritional trial focusing on hospitalized cancer patients at risk for malnutrition, we investigated sex-specific HGS values stratified by age and tumor entity. Additionally, we examined the association between HGS and 180-day all-cause mortality.

RESULTS

We included data from 628 cancer patients, which were collected from eight hospitals in Switzerland. Depending on the age of patients, HGS varied among female patients from 7 kg to 26 kg and among male patients from 20.5 kg to 44 kg. An incremental decrease in handgrip strength by 10 kg resulted in a 50% increase in 180-day all-cause mortality (odds ratio 1.52 (95%CI 1.19 to 1.94), p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Our data provide evidence of the prognostic implications of HGS measurement in cancer patients and validate the prognostic value of handgrip strength in regard to long-term mortality. In addition, our results provide expected HGS values in the population of hospitalized malnourished cancer patients, which may allow better interpretation of values in individual patients.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

41 since deposited on 30 May 2022
20 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item