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Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) is a surrogate marker of whole body strength that has been observed to correlate inversely with the metabolic syndrome (MetS). In this study, we examined whether HGS in young, healthy individuals, was associated with surrogate endpoints of the MetS. A secondary goal was to examine whether absolute HGS (absHGS) or relative HGS (relHGS) was a stronger predictor of MetS.

Method: 834 subjects (577 women), aged 18–26, were recruited. Surrogate endpoints for MetS were waist circumference, HDL, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, triglycerides, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP). We also examined the association between HGS and body fat percentage, HOMA-IR, CRP, orosomucoid and apolipoprotein A-1 and apolipoprotein B. The associations were examined using multivariable linear regression.

Results: AbsHGS and relHGS were each associated with several surrogate endpoints of the metabolic syndrome, with RelHGS being statistically significantly associated with a greater number of the variables – all except fasting glucose and diastolic BP.

Conclusion: RelHGS correlates with components of the MetS even in young, healthy populations. It is a better predictor of MetS components than absHGS. As a cheap and easy to use biomarker, relHGS holds merit as a screening tool for metabolic dysfunction even in preclinical contexts.