Titilope Oluwatobiloba AJEPE, Oladunni Caroline OSUNDIYA, Favour Oluwaseun OKUNADE, Toluwani Paul ORISAJO, Joseph Olaoluwa ADUNOLA

Prediction, cardiorespiratory function, handgrip strength, upper limb, dexterity, community dwelling, older adult.

Background: Aging results in a steady decline in fine motor skill, upper limb and cardiorespiratory functionality. In low resource communities, determining upper limb function may be useful. This study aimed at predicting cardiorespiratory function using handgrip strength (HGS) and upper limb dexterity (ULD) of older adults. Materials and methods: This survey involved 101 older adults from Lagos State, Nigeria. Cardiovascular parameters were assessed with blood pressure monitor and respiratory parameters with spirometer. Dominant HGS and ULD were assessed with block and box test and Jamar hand dynamometer respectively. Spearman correlation was used to determine the relationship between HGS, ULD and cardiorespiratory parameters. Regression analysis was carried out to predict the cardiorespiratory parameters using HGS and ULD. Results: Hand grip strength was related to respiratory parameters (FVC: r = 0.50, p = 0.001, FEV1: r= 0.52, p = 0.001, PEFR: r = 0.41, p = 0.001) but not cardiovascular parameters. ULD was related to all respiratory parameters (FVC: r = 0.21, p = 0.036, FEV1: r = 0.33, p = 0.001, PEFR: r = 0.43, p = 0.001 and systolic blood pressure (r = -0.19, p = 0.047) and pulse pressure (r = -0.29, p = 0.004). Regression analysis showed that in addition to age, sex and BMI, HGS predicted all respiratory parameters (p = 0.001 (FVC), 0.001 (FEV1), 0.001 (PEFR)). ULD did not predict respiratory parameters (p value = 0.560 (FVC), 0.062 (FEV1), 0.076 (PEFR)) but predicted pulse pressure (p = 0.038). Conclusions: Respiratory parameters of older adults can be inferred from their HGS but not ULD.

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