Grip strength among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults: A longitudinal study of the effects of birth size and current size

Timothy Howarth; Belinda Davison; Gurmeet Singh

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024749

Grip strength among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults: A longitudinal study of the effects of birth size and current size

Timothy Howarth, Belinda Davison, Gurmeet Singh

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Abstract

Objectives Indigenous Australians are born smaller than non-Indigenous Australians and are at an increased risk of early onset of frailty. This study aimed to identify the relationship between birth size, current size and grip strength, as an early marker of frailty, in Indigenous and non-Indigenous young adults. Design Cross sectional data from two longitudinal studies: Aboriginal birth cohort (Indigenous) and top end cohort (non-Indigenous). Setting Participants reside in over 40 urban and remote communities across the Northern Territory, Australia. Participants Young adults with median age 25 years (IQR 24-26); 427 participants (55% women), 267 (63%) were remote Indigenous, 55 (13%) urban Indigenous and 105 (25%) urban non-Indigenous. Outcome measures Reliable birth data were available. Anthropometric data (height, weight, lean mass) and grip strength were directly collected using standardised methods. Current residence was classified as urban or remote. Results The rate of low birthweight (LBW) in the non-Indigenous cohort (9%) was significantly lower than the Indigenous cohort (16%) (â '7%, 95% CI â '14 to 0, p=0.03). Indigenous participants had lower grip strength than non-Indigenous (women, â '2.08, 95% CI â '3.61 to-0.55, p=0.008 and men, â '6.2, 95% CI â '9.84 to-2.46, p=0.001). Birth weight (BW) was associated with grip strength after adjusting for demographic factors for both women (β=1.29, 95% CI 0.41 to 2.16, p=0.004) and men (β=3.95, 95% CI 2.38 to 5.51, p<0.001). When current size (lean mass and body mass index [BMI]) was introduced to the model BW was no longer a significant factor. Lean mass was a positive indicator for grip strength, and BMI a negative indicator. Conclusions As expected women had significantly lower grip strength than men. Current size, in particular lean mass, was the strongest predictor of adult grip strength in this cohort. BW may have an indirect effect on later grip strength via moderation of lean mass development, especially through adolescence and young adulthood.

Original language	English
Article number	e024749
Number of pages	7
Journal	BMJ Open
Volume	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024749
Publication status	Published - 2 Apr 2019
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

Keywords

developmental origins
epidemiology
indigenous Australians
public health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

@article{630e8b01193943f782a0c94d47cf0e18,

title = "Grip strength among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults: A longitudinal study of the effects of birth size and current size",

abstract = "Objectives Indigenous Australians are born smaller than non-Indigenous Australians and are at an increased risk of early onset of frailty. This study aimed to identify the relationship between birth size, current size and grip strength, as an early marker of frailty, in Indigenous and non-Indigenous young adults. Design Cross sectional data from two longitudinal studies: Aboriginal birth cohort (Indigenous) and top end cohort (non-Indigenous). Setting Participants reside in over 40 urban and remote communities across the Northern Territory, Australia. Participants Young adults with median age 25 years (IQR 24-26); 427 participants (55% women), 267 (63%) were remote Indigenous, 55 (13%) urban Indigenous and 105 (25%) urban non-Indigenous. Outcome measures Reliable birth data were available. Anthropometric data (height, weight, lean mass) and grip strength were directly collected using standardised methods. Current residence was classified as urban or remote. Results The rate of low birthweight (LBW) in the non-Indigenous cohort (9%) was significantly lower than the Indigenous cohort (16%) ({\^a} '7%, 95% CI {\^a} '14 to 0, p=0.03). Indigenous participants had lower grip strength than non-Indigenous (women, {\^a} '2.08, 95% CI {\^a} '3.61 to-0.55, p=0.008 and men, {\^a} '6.2, 95% CI {\^a} '9.84 to-2.46, p=0.001). Birth weight (BW) was associated with grip strength after adjusting for demographic factors for both women (β=1.29, 95% CI 0.41 to 2.16, p=0.004) and men (β=3.95, 95% CI 2.38 to 5.51, p<0.001). When current size (lean mass and body mass index [BMI]) was introduced to the model BW was no longer a significant factor. Lean mass was a positive indicator for grip strength, and BMI a negative indicator. Conclusions As expected women had significantly lower grip strength than men. Current size, in particular lean mass, was the strongest predictor of adult grip strength in this cohort. BW may have an indirect effect on later grip strength via moderation of lean mass development, especially through adolescence and young adulthood.",

keywords = "developmental origins, epidemiology, indigenous Australians, public health",

author = "Timothy Howarth and Belinda Davison and Gurmeet Singh",

note = "This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.",

year = "2019",

month = apr,

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doi = "10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024749",

language = "English",

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T1 - Grip strength among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults

T2 - A longitudinal study of the effects of birth size and current size

AU - Howarth, Timothy

AU - Davison, Belinda

AU - Singh, Gurmeet

N1 - This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

PY - 2019/4/2

Y1 - 2019/4/2

N2 - Objectives Indigenous Australians are born smaller than non-Indigenous Australians and are at an increased risk of early onset of frailty. This study aimed to identify the relationship between birth size, current size and grip strength, as an early marker of frailty, in Indigenous and non-Indigenous young adults. Design Cross sectional data from two longitudinal studies: Aboriginal birth cohort (Indigenous) and top end cohort (non-Indigenous). Setting Participants reside in over 40 urban and remote communities across the Northern Territory, Australia. Participants Young adults with median age 25 years (IQR 24-26); 427 participants (55% women), 267 (63%) were remote Indigenous, 55 (13%) urban Indigenous and 105 (25%) urban non-Indigenous. Outcome measures Reliable birth data were available. Anthropometric data (height, weight, lean mass) and grip strength were directly collected using standardised methods. Current residence was classified as urban or remote. Results The rate of low birthweight (LBW) in the non-Indigenous cohort (9%) was significantly lower than the Indigenous cohort (16%) (â '7%, 95% CI â '14 to 0, p=0.03). Indigenous participants had lower grip strength than non-Indigenous (women, â '2.08, 95% CI â '3.61 to-0.55, p=0.008 and men, â '6.2, 95% CI â '9.84 to-2.46, p=0.001). Birth weight (BW) was associated with grip strength after adjusting for demographic factors for both women (β=1.29, 95% CI 0.41 to 2.16, p=0.004) and men (β=3.95, 95% CI 2.38 to 5.51, p<0.001). When current size (lean mass and body mass index [BMI]) was introduced to the model BW was no longer a significant factor. Lean mass was a positive indicator for grip strength, and BMI a negative indicator. Conclusions As expected women had significantly lower grip strength than men. Current size, in particular lean mass, was the strongest predictor of adult grip strength in this cohort. BW may have an indirect effect on later grip strength via moderation of lean mass development, especially through adolescence and young adulthood.

AB - Objectives Indigenous Australians are born smaller than non-Indigenous Australians and are at an increased risk of early onset of frailty. This study aimed to identify the relationship between birth size, current size and grip strength, as an early marker of frailty, in Indigenous and non-Indigenous young adults. Design Cross sectional data from two longitudinal studies: Aboriginal birth cohort (Indigenous) and top end cohort (non-Indigenous). Setting Participants reside in over 40 urban and remote communities across the Northern Territory, Australia. Participants Young adults with median age 25 years (IQR 24-26); 427 participants (55% women), 267 (63%) were remote Indigenous, 55 (13%) urban Indigenous and 105 (25%) urban non-Indigenous. Outcome measures Reliable birth data were available. Anthropometric data (height, weight, lean mass) and grip strength were directly collected using standardised methods. Current residence was classified as urban or remote. Results The rate of low birthweight (LBW) in the non-Indigenous cohort (9%) was significantly lower than the Indigenous cohort (16%) (â '7%, 95% CI â '14 to 0, p=0.03). Indigenous participants had lower grip strength than non-Indigenous (women, â '2.08, 95% CI â '3.61 to-0.55, p=0.008 and men, â '6.2, 95% CI â '9.84 to-2.46, p=0.001). Birth weight (BW) was associated with grip strength after adjusting for demographic factors for both women (β=1.29, 95% CI 0.41 to 2.16, p=0.004) and men (β=3.95, 95% CI 2.38 to 5.51, p<0.001). When current size (lean mass and body mass index [BMI]) was introduced to the model BW was no longer a significant factor. Lean mass was a positive indicator for grip strength, and BMI a negative indicator. Conclusions As expected women had significantly lower grip strength than men. Current size, in particular lean mass, was the strongest predictor of adult grip strength in this cohort. BW may have an indirect effect on later grip strength via moderation of lean mass development, especially through adolescence and young adulthood.

KW - developmental origins

KW - epidemiology

KW - indigenous Australians

KW - public health

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Grip strength among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults: A longitudinal study of the effects of birth size and current size

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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