A Study on Hand Grip Strength in Female Labourers of Jalandhar, Punjab, India

The present study is based on the association of left and right hand grip strength with five anthropometric traits, viz. height, weight, body mass index, hand breadth and hand length on purposively selected 100 women those who are working as labourers in different constructional sites situated in and around Jalandhar city, Punjab, India and 100 sedentary women of the same place. The findings of the present study indicate highly significant differences (p <0.001) in height (t = 6.27), weight (t = 11.53), BMI (t = 9.73), hand length (t = 5.79), hand breadth (t = 4.49), right handgrip strength (t = 3.92) and left handgrip strength (t = 3.73) between right hand dominant female labourers and their sedentary counterparts. However, in left hand dominant female labourers and the sedentary women, highly significant differences (p <0.001) were noted in BMI (t =3.31) and statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found in weight (t = 2.53) and right handgrip strength (t = 2.80). and disease processes and the potential for progress in rehabilitation. Handgrip strength is necessary for performing activities of daily living which in turn, are required to maintain functional autonomy. The relationship between handgrip strength and a number of variables include morbidity, mortality, risk of falling, a range of functional ability variables and nutritional status have been extensively studied in some older populations. The hand grip strength is positively associated with nutritional status, even after controlling for potential confounders including health status and socioeconomic conditions (Chilima and Ismail 2001). This study confirms that those in lower BMI category had lower mean handgrip strength. Keeping the view in mind, in the present study an attempt has been made to investigate the association of various anthropometric variables with handgrip strength in female labourers. Our study was the first of its kind regarding the handgrip strength of female construction workers of north India. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study is based on purposively selected 100 women (mean age 28.57 years ± 7.67) those who are working as labourers in different constructional sites situated in and around Jalandhar city, Punjab, India and 100 sedentary women (mean age 29.85 years ± 8.56) of same place. Age range was between 18 to 40 years. 58 SHYAMAL KOLEY, NAVDEEP KAUR AND J.S. SANDHU The data collection was undertaken under natural environmental conditions, in residential areas and construction sites in and around Jalandhar city. In this cross-sectional study, the age of the subjects were recorded as per the respondents reply. The subjects were divided in such a way that “age 18”, for instance, refers to the female labourers aged 17 years and 6 months through 18 years and 5 months and 29 days. The study was approved by the local ethics committee. Six anthropometric traits, viz. height, weight, body mass index, hand length, hand breadth, right and left hand grip strengths were taken on each subject. The height (to the nearest 0.1 cm), weight (to the nearest 0.1 kg), hand length and hand breadth of the subjects were measured using the techniques provided by Lohmann et al. (1988). BMI was then calculated using the formula weight (kg)/height (m). The grip strength of both right and left hands was measured using a standard adjustable digital hand grip dynamometer (Takei Scientific Instruments Co., Ltd, Japan) at standing position with shoulder adducted and neutrally rotated and elbow in full extension. The subjects were asked to put maximum force on the dynamometer thrice from both sides of the hands. The average value was recorded in kilograms. Data were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) version 7.5. Student’s t test was applied for the comparison of all the variables between female labourers and controls. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were applied to establish the correlations of dominant hand grip strength with other variables in female labourers. Linear regression analyses were carried out with hand grip strength (separately) as a dependent variable and rest of the anthropometric variables as independent. A 5% level of probability was used to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 1 shows the distribution of grip strength of right dominant hands and some anthropometric variables in female labourers and sedentary counterparts. Right hand dominant sedentary females have higher mean values in all variables, viz. height (154.09 cm), weight (58.94 kg), BMI (24.82 kg/m, hand length (17.23 cm), hand breadth (7.67 cm), right handgrip strength (22.75 kg) and left handgrip strength (21.03 kg) than the right hand dominant female labourers (148.90 cm, 43.44 kg, 19.58 kg/m , 16.55 cm, 7.39 cm, 20.67 kg and 19.01 kg respectively). However, highly significant differences (p<0.001) were noted in height (t = 6.27), weight (t = 11.53), BMI (t = 9.73), hand length (t = 5.79), hand breadth (t = 4.49), right handgrip strength (t = 3.92) and left handgrip strength (t = 3.73) between right hand dominant female labourers and the sedentary counterparts. The distribution of grip strength of left dominant hand and some anthropometric variables in female labourers and sedentary counterparts is given in Table 2. Left hand dominant sedentary females have higher mean values in height (153.93cm), weight (59.67 kg), BMI (24.97 kg/m), hand breadth (7.52cm), right handgrip strength (23.63 kg) and left handgrip strength (25.00 kg) than the left hand dominant female labourers (153.85 cm, 45.30 kg,19.13 kg/m, 7.43 cm, 19.37 kg and 22.21 kg respectively) and have lesser mean values in hand length (17.18 cm) than the left hand dominant female labourers (17.33 cm). However, highly significant differences (p<0.001) were noted in BMI (t =3.31) and statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found in weight (t = 2.53) and right handgrip strength (t = 2.80) between left hand dominant female labourers and the sedentary counterparts. Table 3 shows the correlation coefficients (r) Table 1: Descriptive statistics of grip strength of right dominant hands and some anthropometric variables in female laborers and sedentary counterparts Variables Female labourers (n = 90) Sedentary females (n =94) t value Mean SD SE Mean SD SE Height (cm) 148.90 5.39 0.57 154.09 5.84 0.60 6.27** Weight (kg) 43.44 6.77 0.71 58.94 11.05 1.14 11.53** BMI (kg/m2) 19.58 2.68 0.28 24.82 4.45 0.45 9.73** Hand length(cm) 16.55 0.82 8.69 17.23 0.78 7.98 5.79** Hand breadth (cm) 7.39 0.39 4.05 7.67 0.41 4.25 4.49** Hand grip strength Right (kg) 20.67 3.28 0.34 22.75 3.89 0.40 3.92** Hand grip strength Left (kg) 19.01 3.61 0.38 21.03 3.75 0.39 3.73**