Association between handgrip strength and visceral obesity with low appendicular skeletal muscle mass in Chinese adults.

OBJECTIVE

Although handgrip strength (HGS) has been shown to be associated with various health outcomes, its relationship with visceral obesity and low appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) has rarely been examined. This study aimed to investigate the independent associations between HGS and the risk of visceral obesity, low ASM, and their co-occurrence in the Chinese population.

METHODS

The data we used were obtained from individuals who attended the health checkup program at the health management center of Yancheng First People's Hospital from March 2023 to November 2024. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for visceral obesity, low ASM, and their co-occurrence were calculated using a logistic regression model with the lowest HGS group serving as the reference category.

RESULTS

After adjusting for BMI, age, sex and other covariates, subjects in the highest quartile of HGS were significantly associated with a lower risk of visceral obesity (OR: 0.14, 95% CI: 0.08-0.27, p < 0.001), low ASM (OR: 0.10, 95% CI: 0.05-0.18, p < 0.001), and their co-occurrence (OR: 0.09, 95% CI: 0.04-0.22, p < 0.001). For visceral obesity, HGS showed an L-shaped, nonlinear association in females, characterized by a sharp reduction in risk at lower HGS levels, followed by a plateau at higher HGS levels (p for nonlinearity < 0.05). Meanwhile, the area under the curve (AUC) values for low ASM, visceral obesity, and their co-occurrence were 0.88 (0.86, 0.89), 0.93 (0.92, 0.94), and 0.72 (0.67, 0.76), respectively.

CONCLUSION

Higher HGS was associated with a lower risk of visceral obesity, low ASM, and their co-occurrence.