Handgrip strength: know what it is, what it is for and how the test is done

Handgrip strength involves the power and ability of the hands to perform tasks that require body effort. To understand the level of each individual, the handgrip test.

Sergio Gama, director of the Brazilian Society of Hand Surgery, explains that the test serves to assess the strength and vitality of the wrist and hand muscles. This helps identify a range of medical complications that affect different parts of the body.

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What is it for?

The handgrip test serves to analyze various body aspects. Among them is monitoring processes of rehabilitationassessing the recovery and capacity of patients during treatment.

Another important point observed by the test is the functional capacity of elderly people. Over time, it is natural for body strength to regress, as there is loss of muscle mass. Thus, manual prehension helps to understand how much these changes can affect the performance of basic day-to-day activities.

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According to Sergio, the test can also be used to assess other aspects:

• Nutritional status;

• Neurological diseases;

• Orthopedic problems.

How is done?

Handgrip assessment is performed using devices. “It is a cheap and easy test to perform. We need a dynamometer or JAMAR, which are two parallel steel bars that must be squeezed together so that we can measure the intensity of the force”, explains Sergio.

According to the expert, the test can be applied to individuals of any age. In general, grip strength is greater in people of the biological male sex (mainly between 25 and 45 years old) and in the dominant hand.

In addition to gender, other characteristics are taken into account for the interpretation of the result obtained by the test, such as age and medical history. Thus, following the particularity of each patient, the medical need is determined.