Mean Combined Relative Grip Strength and Metabolic Syndrome: 2011–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Churilla, JR, Summerlin, M, Richardson, MR, and Boltz, AJ. Mean combined relative grip strength and metabolic syndrome: 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. J Strength Cond Res 34(4): 995-1000, 2020-The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among mean combined relative grip strength (MCRGS), the metabolic syndrome (MetS), and the individual MetS criterion using a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (>/=20 years of age). The study sample included subjects from the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES). Subject MCRGS, using an average of 3 attempts per hand, was measured by a trained examiner using a handgrip dynamometer. All anthropometric, blood pressure, and serum blood measures used to diagnose the MetS were obtained in a Mobile Examination Center using a subsample of NHANES subjects (N = 4,664). Results suggest a favorable inverse dose-response relationship exists across quartiles of increased MCRGS and likelihood of MetS in both men and women (p 3.20-3.77 kg/BMI in men; MCRGS >1.99-2.38 kg/BMI in women) and fourth quartile (MCRGS >3.77 kg/BMI in men; MCRGS >2.38 kg/BMI in women), were significantly less likely to have the MetS, independent of gender (p