Association of grip strength and walking pace with the risk of incident Parkinson's disease: a prospective cohort study of 422,531 participants

Abstract

Background: Muscle weakness is a prominent feature of Parkinson's disease, but whether the occurrence of this deficit in healthy adults is associated with subsequent PD diagnosis remains unclear.

Objective: This study sought to examine the relationship between muscle strength, represented by grip strength and walking pace, and the risk of incident PD.

Methods: A total of 422,531 participants from the UK biobank were included in this study. Longitudinal associations of grip strength and walking pace with the risk of incident PD were investigated by Cox proportional hazard models adjusting for several well-established risk factors. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were also conducted for further validation.

Results: After a median follow-up of 9.23 years, 2,118 (0.5%) individuals developed incident PD. For per 5 kg increment of absolute grip strength, there was a significant 10.2% reduction in the risk of incident PD (HR = 0.898, 95% CI [0.872-0.924], P < 0.001). Similarly, per 0.05 kg/kg increment of relative grip strength was related to a 9.2% reduced risk of incident PD (HR = 0.908, 95% CI [0.887-0.929], P < 0.001). Notably, the associations remained consistent when grip strength was calculated as quintiles. Moreover, participants with a slower walking pace demonstrated an elevated risk of incident PD (HR = 1.231, 95%CI [1.075-1.409], P = 0.003). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses further validated the robustness of the observed associations.

Conclusion: Our findings showed a negative association of grip strength and walking pace with the risk of incident PD independent of important confounding factors. These results hold potential implications for the early screening of people at high-risk of PD.

Keywords: Disease prediction; Grip strength; Parkinson’s disease; Walking pace.