Abstract

Author(s): Silva Barbosa, Fernanda Silva1; Conceição-Machado Pereira, Maria Ester1; Ramos Soares, Laís1; Goodwin, Nara2; Dos Reis Almeida, Maiara1; Barbosa Ramos, Lilian1; Barreto-Medeiros, Jairza Maria1

Introduction: Muscle strength has been considered a good predictor of risk for cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: To evaluate the association between relative muscular strength and cardiometabolic risk factors in hypertensive patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 115 hypertensive patients attended at a university hospital. Anthropometric and biochemical variables (fasting glycemia, total cholesterol and fractions and triglycerides) were collected. The Waist / height ratio and body mass index were calculated. Relative muscle strength was assessed from the palmar grip strength, measured by the dynamometer, and divided by body weight. Pearson’s correlation was used and thelinear regression model to estimate the relationship between risk variables and relative muscle strength. A significance level of 5% and a 95% confidence interval were adopted.

Results: The majority of the population (82.6%) were female, 64.3% were adults, 56.5% were sedentary and 93.0% were overweight. Significant inverse correlations were observed between relative muscle strength with waist / height ratio and body mass index (p=0.000). The regression model showed that the increase in waist / height ratio contributed significantly to the reduction of relative muscle strength (p = 0.023), as well as being female (p = 0.000).

Conclusion: The present study identified an association between relative muscle strength and cardiometabolic risk variables.