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. 2023 Dec 1;10:1304181. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1304181

Table 2.

Baseline characteristics of participants stratified by sex-specific HGS thresholds.

Characteristics Low HGS (n = 1,281) Normal HGS (n = 5,481) p value
Age, y 65.7 (9.8) 57.2 (8.9) <0.001
Female, n (%) 548 (42.8) 3,112 (56.8) <0.001
Married (vs others) 285 (22.2) 794 (14.5) <0.001
Rural (vs others) 422 (32.9) 2060 (37.6) 0.002
Medical insurance, n (%) 1,176 (91.8) 5,151 (94.0) 0.005
Education <0.001
No formal education 747 (58.3) 2,324 (42.4)
Primary school 291 (22.7) 1,217 (22.2)
Middle or high school 234 (18.3) 1864 (34.0)
College or above 9 (0.7) 76 (1.4)
Smoking 622 (48.6) 2038 (37.2) <0.001
Drinking 317 (24.7) 1,495 (27.3) 0.082
BMI 22.4 (3.9) 24.7 (34.7) <0.001
Blood pressure, mmHg
Systolic 133.7 (27.2) 131.8 (32.8) 0.031
Diastolic 74.4 (12.2) 76.2 (12.0) <0.001
Comorbidities, n (%)
Hypertension 400 (31.2) 1,421 (25.9) <0.001
Diabetes 98 (7.7) 353 (6.4) 0.134
Cardiovascular disease 206 (16.1) 679 (12.4) <0.001
Stroke 60 (4.7) 113 (2.1) <0.001
Chronic lung disease 174 (13.6) 471 (8.6) <0.001
Chronic kidney disease 94 (7.3) 288 (5.3) 0.005
Liver disease 53 (4.1) 167 (3.0) 0.058
Cancers 9 (0.7) 49 (0.9) 0.617
Blood measurements
Hb, g/L 14.4 (2.2) 14.5 (2.1) 0.095
Hematocrit, % 41.9 (6.1) 41.8 (6.0) 0.353
MCV, fl 92.3 (8.4) 90.5 (8.3) <0.001
Total cholesterol, mg/dL 188.4 (38.0) 194.9 (38.8) <0.001
Triglycerides, mg/dL 123.6 (81.9) 137.8 (110.8) <0.001
HDL-C, mg/dL 51.3 (15.5) 50.6 (15.2) 0.147
LDL-C, mg/dL 113.9 (34.2) 118.0 (35.6) <0.001
eGFR, mL/min/1.73 m2 96.5 (24.7) 99.0 (25.1) 0.001
HbA1c, mmol/mol 5.3 (1.0) 5.3 (0.8) 0.004
CRP, mg/L 3.7 (9.2) 2.5 (6.7) <0.001

HGS, handgrip strength; BMI, body mass index; Hb, hemoglobin; MCV, mean corpuscular volume; HDL, high density lipoprotein; LDL, low density lipoprotein; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; HbA1c, glycosylated hemoglobin; CRP, C-reactive protein.