TOPLINE:

In patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), handgrip strength — a simple, noninvasive measure of muscle function — showed a modest inverse association with clinical disease activity, particularly in Crohn’s disease; a positive correlation with health-related quality of life; and a negative correlation with depressive symptoms.

METHODOLOGY:

• Handgrip strength measurement is a simple, inexpensive, and widely used assessment of muscle function, with growing evidence linking it to adverse outcomes such as disability, longer hospital stays, and mortality; however, its relationship with specific disease parameters and nutritional status in IBD remains unclear.
• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional observational study of 144 patients with IBD (96 with Crohn’s disease and 48 with ulcerative colitis; mean age, 45.9 years; 55% male) to investigate the association between handgrip strength and crucial treatment endpoints in IBD, including disease activity, endoscopic severity, and nutritional status.
• Disease activity and health-related quality of life were measured using validated clinical indices and questionnaires, endoscopic severity was assessed by ileocolonoscopy using validated endoscopic scores, and additional data were collected on a history of abdominal surgery, the number of prior corticosteroid courses, the incidence of extraintestinal manifestations, the total number of hospitalizations related to IBD, and current maintenance treatments.
• Handgrip strength was measured using a calibrated isokinetic dynamometer, recording the highest value from three repeated measurements of the dominant hand; nutritional status was assessed using established methods.

TAKEAWAY:

• In patients with IBD, handgrip strength showed a statistically significant weak correlation with disease activity (correlation coefficient [r], -0.182; P = .035) and a positive linear correlation with health-related quality of life (r, 0.330; P < .001).
• An inverse linear correlation was observed between handgrip strength and depression scores (r, -0.203; P = .03), suggesting that lower grip strength is associated with more depressive symptoms.
• In patients with Crohn’s disease, handgrip strength significantly correlated with clinical disease activity (r, -0.299; P = .004), health-related quality of life (r, 0.411; P < .001), depressive symptoms (r, -0.271; P = .017), and the number of extraintestinal manifestations (r, -0.218; P < .001); the association between handgrip strength and disease activity was not significant in ulcerative colitis.
• The analysis of receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated acceptable diagnostic accuracy of handgrip strength for the detection of malnutrition (area under the curve, 0.733; P < .001), with sex-specific cutoffs showing 84.0% sensitivity and 48.6% specificity in women at 28.5 kg, and 86.7% sensitivity and 45.2% specificity in men at 49.5 kg.

IN PRACTICE:

“This aligns with existing literature suggesting that muscle weakness, reflected by reduced HGS [handgrip strength], can be a consequence of chronic inflammation and disease burden,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Andreas Vadarlis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. It was published online in Digestive Diseases and Sciences.

LIMITATIONS:

The study lacked prospective data regarding the association between handgrip strength and future complications such as exacerbations, hospitalizations, or surgeries. A direct comparison with another recommended biomarker was not available in the study. Handgrip strength can be influenced by factors beyond nutritional status, including age, gender, physical activity, other diseases, and motivation during testing, requiring interpretation within a broader clinical picture. The self-reported nature of some questionnaires might have introduced recall bias.

DISCLOSURES:

The authors reported having no competing interests.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.