Association between changes in working status and hand-grip strength among Korean middle-aged and older adults: a longitudinal panel study

Abstract

We investigated the association between working status changes and hand-grip strength (HGS) among middle-aged and older Korean adults using data from the 2006-2018 Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. After excluding those with less than normal HGS in the baseline year, newly added panels, and missing values, 3843 participants (2106 men; 1737 women) were finally included. After adjusting for potential confounders, we used a 2-year lagged multivariable generalized estimating equation model to examine this association longitudinally. Men who quit working or who continued to be non-working were more likely to have lower HGS than those who continued to work (working -> non-working, adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26-1.70; non-working -> non-working, adjusted OR: 1.52, 95% CI 1.34-1.72). Compared to women who continued to work, the other three groups showed high ORs with low HGS (working -> non-working, adjusted OR: 1.19, 95% CI 1.01-1.40; non-working -> working, adjusted OR: 1.18, 95% CI 0.98-1.42; non-working -> non-working, adjusted OR: 1.38, 95% CI 1.22-1.56). Middle-aged and older adults whose working status changed to non-working were at higher risk of reduced HGS than others and required muscular strength training interventions to improve HGS and prevent sarcopenia.