Low Grip Strength and Prediabetes in Normal-Weight Adults.

INTRODUCTION: Detection of prediabetes is an important step in diabetes prevention in primary care. Risk stratification of healthy-weight individuals for detection of prediabetes is necessary to avoid missed opportunities for diabetes prevention. METHODS: Using data from the 2011 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we studied the relationship between combined handgrip strength, a proxy for lean muscle mass, and prediabetes among adults aged ≥20 years without diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes who had a healthy body mass index (18.5-24.9 kg/m(2); unweighted n = 1340, weighted n = 58,360,690). Prediabetes was defined as having a glycohemoglobin level between 5.7% and 6.4%. RESULTS: Of the healthy-weight adults, 20.5% had prediabetes. Combined mean grip strength was lower for individuals with prediabetes than those with normoglycemia in the full sample (63.8 vs 70.9 kg; P = .004). Similar results were seen among both men (87.9 vs 82.1 kg; P = .03) and women (51.8 vs 56.5 kg; P = .001) in subgroup analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Grip strength is associated with prediabetes among healthy-weight US adults. Grip strength may have utility as an indicator for screening healthy-weight individuals for prediabetes.