Table 1.
Cohort characteristics by quintiles of grip strength
| Characteristics | Age-specific and sex-specific grip strength quintiles | |||||
| Overall | High | High/middle | Middle | Middle/low | Low | |
| Total participants, n | 166 894 | 32 603 | 31 960 | 33 916 | 35 332 | 33 083 |
| Women, n (%) | 93 794 (56.2) | 17 510 (53.7) | 17 401 (54.5) | 19 562 (57.7) | 21 069 (59.6) | 18 252 (55.2) |
| Age, years (mean, SD) | 55.8 (8.1) | 55 (8.4) | 55.5 (8.1) | 56.3 (8.0) | 56.1 (7.9) | 56.2 (7.8) |
| Townsend Deprivation Index, n (%) | ||||||
| Lower deprivation | 57 435 (34.4) | 12 544 (38.5) | 11 723 (36.7) | 12 007 (35.4) | 11 852 (33.5) | 9309 (28.1) |
| Middle deprivation | 57 877 (34.7) | 11 522 (35.3) | 11 311 (35.4) | 11 935 (35.2) | 12 143 (34.4) | 10 966 (33.2) |
| Higher deprivation | 51 582 (30.9) | 8537 (26.2) | 8926 (27.9) | 9974 (29.4) | 11 337 (32.1) | 12 808 (38.7) |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | ||||||
| White | 159 677 (95.7) | 31 702 (97.2) | 31 035 (97.1) | 32 732 (96.5) | 33 738 (95.5) | 30 470 (92.1) |
| Mixed | 2051 (1.2) | 310 (1.0) | 327 (1.0) | 369 (1.1) | 456 (1.3) | 589 (1.8) |
| South Asians | 2950 (1.8) | 139 (0.4) | 224 (0.7) | 417 (1.2) | 671 (1.9) | 1499 (4.5) |
| Black | 1775 (1.1) | 417 (1.3) | 312 (1.0) | 323 (1.0) | 346 (1.0) | 377 (1.1) |
| Chinese | 441 (0.3) | 35 (0.1) | 62 (0.2) | 75 (0.2) | 121 (0.3) | 148 (0.5) |
| Education, n (%) | ||||||
| College or university degree | 64 082 (46.0) | 13 705 (48.0) | 13 010 (47.3) | 13 039 (46.1) | 13 011 (44.7) | 11 317 (43.5) |
| A level/AS level or equivalent | 18 655 (13.4) | 3861 (13.5) | 3649 (13.3) | 3746 (13.2) | 3878 (13.3) | 3521 (13.6) |
| O level/GCSE or equivalent | 36 303 (26.0) | 7088 (24.8) | 6886 (25.1) | 7465 (26.4) | 7925 (27.2) | 6939 (26.7) |
| SE or equivalent/NVQ or HND or HNC | 20 395 (14.6) | 3929 (13.8) | 3935 (14.3) | 4036 (14.3) | 4281 (14.7) | 4214 (16.2) |
| Smoking status, n (%) | ||||||
| Never | 94 980 (56.9) | 18 179 (55.8) | 18 103 (56.6) | 19 282 (56.9) | 20 343 (57.6) | 19 073 (57.7) |
| Previous | 55 087 (33.0) | 11 278 (34.6) | 10 738 (33.6) | 11 328 (33.4) | 11 455 (32.4) | 10 288 (31.1) |
| Current | 16 827 (10.1) | 3146 (9.7) | 3119 (9.8) | 3306 (9.8) | 3534 (10) | 3722 (11.3) |
| Diet and physical activity | ||||||
| Process meat intake, portion/week (mean, SD) | 1.8 (1.1) | 1.9 (1.0) | 1.8 (1.0) | 1.8 (1.0) | 1.8 (1.1) | 1.9 (1.1) |
| Red meat intake, portion/week (mean, SD) | 2.1 (1.4) | 2.1 (1.4) | 2.1 (1.4) | 2.1 (1.4) | 2 (1.4) | 2.1 (1.5) |
| Fruit and vegetable intake, g/day (mean, SD) | 326.8 (191.8) | 331.4 (185.6) | 329.9 (190.4) | 328.2 (189.0) | 324.4 (188.8) | 320.6 (204.4) |
| Alcohol intake, times/week (mean, SD) | 2.9 (1.5) | 2.8 (1.4) | 2.8 (1.4) | 2.9 (1.5) | 2.9 (1.5) | 3.1 (1.6) |
| Total sedentary time, hour/day (mean, SD) | 5 (2.2) | 5 (2.2) | 5 (2.2) | 5 (2.2) | 5 (2.2) | 5 (2.4) |
| Total physical activity, MET-hour/week (mean, SD) | 2901.6 (3081.2) | 3050.1 (3124.3) | 2965 (3112.8) | 2898.3 (3046.7) | 2845.3 (3038.4) | 2744.8 (3078.1) |
| Grip strength (kg) | 30.8 (11.0) | 40.9 (10.7) | 34.9 (8.9) | 30.7 (8.2) | 26.9 (7.8) | 21.1 (7.9) |
| Grip strength per body weight (kg/kg) | 0.4 (0.1) | 0.5 (0.1) | 0.5 (0.1) | 0.4 (0.1) | 0.4 (0.1) | 0.3 (0.1) |
| Sleep categories, n (%) | ||||||
| Normal (7–9 hours per day) | 124 481 (74.6) | 25 026 (76.8) | 24 227 (75.8) | 25 689 (75.7) | 26 204 (74.2) | 23 335 (70.5) |
| Short sleep (<7 hours per day) | 39 954 (23.9) | 7262 (22.3) | 7324 (22.9) | 7812 (23.0) | 8550 (24.2) | 9006 (27.2) |
| Long sleep (>9 hours per day) | 2459 (1.5) | 315 (1.0) | 409 (1.3) | 415 (1.2) | 578 (1.6) | 742 (2.2) |
| Adiposity | ||||||
| Waist circumference, cm (mean, SD) | 89.2 (12.9) | 90.1 (12.8) | 88.9 (12.6) | 88.6 (12.8) | 88.4 (12.8) | 90.1 (13.2) |
| BMI, kg/m2 (mean, SD) | 27.1 (4.6) | 27.5 (4.5) | 27 (4.3) | 27 (4.4) | 27 (4.6) | 27.4 (4.9) |
| BMI category, n (%) | ||||||
| Underweight (<18.5 kg/m2) | 877 (0.5) | 90 (0.3) | 113 (0.4) | 175 (0.5) | 235 (0.7) | 264 (0.8) |
| Normal (18.5–24.9 kg/m2) | 56 665 (34.0) | 9943 (30.5) | 11 002 (34.4) | 12 033 (35.5) | 12 662 (35.8) | 11 025 (33.3) |
| Overweight (25–29.9 kg/m2) | 72 190 (43.3) | 14 786 (45.4) | 14 245 (44.6) | 14 652 (43.2) | 14 834 (42.0) | 13 673 (41.3) |
| Obese (>30.0 kg/m2) | 37 162 (22.3) | 7784 (23.9) | 6600 (20.7) | 7056 (20.8) | 7601 (21.5) | 8121 (24.6) |
Data are presented as mean and SD for continuous variables and as frequency and % for categorical variables.
A/AS level, Advanced/Advanced Subsidiary level; BMI, body mass index; GCSE, General Certificate of Secondary Education; HNC, Higher National Certificate; HND, Higher National Diploma; MET, metabolic equivalent task; NVQ, National Vocational Qualification; O level, Ordinary level; SE, Secondary Education.