Prevalence of low handgrip strength in latin american older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
International Journal of Development Research
Prevalence of low handgrip strength in latin american older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Received 19th February, 2022; Received in revised form 06th March, 2022; Accepted 20th April, 2022; Published online 27th May, 2022
Copyright © 2022, Maria Luiza Amorim Sena Pereira, Marlus Henrique Queiroz Pereira, Marcos Pereira-Santos, Marcia Mara Corrêa, Elizabete Regina Araújo de Oliveira. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to estimate the prevalence of low handgrip strength (HGS) among community-dwelling older adults in Latin America. Methods: PubMed, Lilacs, Embase, and Scielo were searched. Two researchers independently selected the studies, extracted data, and performed a risk of bias analysis. The prevalence of low HGS was estimated using a random-effects meta-analytic model. Subgroup analysis was also performed. Results: The summary measure (53 records) of the prevalence of low HGS was 33.0% (95%CI: 29.0-36.0%). Cuba presented the highest estimated prevalence, and Colombia the lowest. The prevalence of low HGS was higher in older females than males. The summary measure did not seem to be influenced by less robust studies and those with smaller sample sizes. Conclusion: The pooled prevalence of low HGS was expressive, with variability among countries. The increasing older adult population in Latin America reinforces the need to measure low HGS when evaluating older adults as a global indicator of health and functionality.
