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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1559556
Association between HGS and hypertension in children and adolescents
Provisionally accepted- 1 Central Hospital of Huanggang City, Huanggang, China
- 2 Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang, China
Aim: Handgrip strength (HGS), a measure of muscle strength, has been reported to be associated with the risk of hypertension in adults. This study intended to assess the relationship of relative HGS (rHGS) and HGS asymmetry ratio with elevated blood pressure and hypertension in children and adolescents.This cross-sectional study included children and adolescents aged 6-19 years with HGS and blood pressure measurements in the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset. The relationships of rHGS and HGS asymmetry ratio with elevated blood pressure and hypertension were assessed using weighted logistic regression models and described as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Subgroup analysis was conducted according to age (<13, ≥13 years) and gender (male, female).Results: In total, 3,736 children and adolescents were included in the study, of whom 509 (13.75%) had elevated blood pressure and 188 (4.72%) had hypertension. High rHGS levels were related to lower odds of elevated blood pressure (OR=0.52, 95%CI, 0.33-0.81) and hypertension (OR=0.34, 95%CI, 0.18-0.66). In addition, children and adolescents with HGS asymmetry ratio of >30.0% had higher odds of elevated blood pressure (OR=2.14, 95%CI, 1.27-3.61) and hypertension (OR=3.02, 95%CI, 1.42-6.42).Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the relationship between high rHGS levels and lower odds of elevated blood pressure and hypertension did not differ by age or sex, whereas the association between HGS asymmetry ratio of >30.0% and higher odds of elevated blood pressure and hypertension was found only in children ≥13 years and Association between HGS and hypertension in children and adolescents 3 males.High rHGS levels were associated with lower odds of elevated blood pressure and hypertension in children and adolescents, whereas an HGS asymmetry ratio of >30.0% was related to higher odds of elevated blood pressure and hypertension.
Keywords: handgrip strength, Hypertension, HGS asymmetry ratio, Children and adolescents, NHANES
Received: 13 Jan 2025; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li and Gu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hongmei Gu, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang, China
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