Aging and Health
Association between low handgrip strength and air pollution among people aged 50 years and over
Yanfei Guo, Ye Ruan, Hualiang Lin, Wenjun Ma, Qingjun Zhang, Shuangyuan Sun, Zhezhou Huang, Yang Zheng, Yan Shi, Fan Wu
Published 2019-10-10
Cite as Chin J Epidemiol, 2019, 40(10): 1240-1244. DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.0254-6450.2019.10.013
Abstract
ObjectiveTo examine the association between long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 combined with indoor air pollution and handgrip strength among people aged 50 and over.
MethodsData were from the first wave of World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health in China. Ambient annual concentration of PM2.5 was estimated by using the satellite data we also investigated the use of fuels and chimneys as indoor air pollution. A two-level (individual level and community level) linear model was applied to examine the association between long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 combined with indoor air pollution and the handgrip strength.
ResultsA total of 13 175 individuals aged 50 years and over were included for analysis. The handgrip strength was (26.67±0.54) kg. Ambient PM2.5 was found to be significantly associated with the risk of decreased handgrip strength. Outdoor PM2.5 concentration was negatively correlated with handgrip strength (β=-0.23, 95%CI: -0.31 - -0.14) decrease in handgrip strength after adjusting for gender, age, residence, education, household assets, intake of vegetables and fruits, smoking and drinking, physical activity. In rural area, compared to those who used solid fuel, use of clean fuel increased (β=1.41, 95%CI: 0.36-2.46) handgrip strength. But in urban area, we did not find any statistically significant association between the use of clean fuel and handgrip strength (β=0.19, 95%CI: -0.95-1.32).
ConclusionThis study found that long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 combined with indoor air pollution was significantly associated with low handgrip strength among people aged 50 years and over, this suggested that ambient PM2.5 might serve as one of the risk factors for low physical function seen in the people aged 50 years and over.
Key words:
Air pollution; Handgrip strength
Contributor Information
Yanfei Guo
Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China
Ye Ruan
Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China
Hualiang Lin
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Wenjun Ma
Guangdong Provincial Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou 511430, China
Qingjun Zhang
Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan 430079, China
Shuangyuan Sun
Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China
Zhezhou Huang
Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China
Yang Zheng
Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China
Yan Shi
Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China
Fan Wu
Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China
Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
