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Background: Exposure to air pollution is associated with several chronic diseases and subclinical processes that could subsequently contribute to physical disability. However, whether and to what extent air pollution exposure is associated with objective measures of physical functioning remains understudied.Methods: We used longitudinal data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and included 10 823 participants who were surveyed at least twice. Annual average exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was assessed using a state-of-the-art estimator. Physical functioning was assessed with 4 objective tests covering hand-grip strength, balance, repeated chair stands, and gait speed. Mixed-effects models with participants as a random term were used to estimate associations with multiple adjustments.Results: We found a significant and robust association between exposure to increased PM2.5 and the reduction in hand-grip strength and balance ability. Each 10 μg/m3 increase in annual averaged concentrations of PM2.5 was associated with a 220-g (95% confidence interval [CI]: 127, 312 g) reduction in hand-grip strength per 60 kg of body weight and a 5% risk (95% CI: 2, 7) of reduced balance ability. The estimated effect of each 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 on hand-grip strength and balance ability was equivalent to the effect of aging (1.12 [95% CI: 0.76, 1.48] and 0.98 [95% CI: 0.50, 1.50] years, respectively).Conclusions: PM2.5 may be differentially associated with various dimensions of physical functioning. Improving air quality can prevent physical disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Air pollution has been associated with various health outcomes. Its effect on hand-grip strength, a measurement of the construct of muscle strength and health status, remains largely unknown.Methods: We used the survey data from 31,209 adults ≥ 50 years of age within Wave 1 of the Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health in six low- and middle-income countries. The outdoor concentration of fine particulate matter pollution (PM2.5) was estimated using satellite data. Domestic fuel type and ventilation were used as indicators of indoor air pollution. We used multilevel linear regression models to examine the association between indoor and outdoor air pollution and hand-grip strength, as well as the potential effect modifiers.Results: We found inverse associations between both indoor and outdoor air pollution and hand-grip strength. Each 10 μg/m3 increase in 3 years' averaged concentrations of outdoor PM2.5 corresponded to 0.70 kg (95% CI: -1.26, -0.14) lower hand-grip strength; and compared with electricity/liquid/gas fuel users, those using solid fuels had lower hand-grip strength (β = -1.25, 95% CI: -1.74, -0.75). However, we did not observe a statistically significant association between ventilation and hand-grip strength. We further observed that urban residents and those having a higher education level had a higher association between ambient PM2.5 and hand-grip strength, and men, young participants, smokers, rural participants, and those with lower household income had higher associations between indoor air pollution and hand-grip strength.Conclusion: This study suggests that both indoor and outdoor air pollution might be important risk factors of poorer health and functional status as indicated by hand-grip strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The purpose of this study was to describe the health hazards among child labourers in brickfields, and to assess occupational health problems, together with physiological and respiratory stress, compared with child control subjects. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 112 child brickfield workers and 120 control subjects, and a modified Nordic Questionnaire was applied to assess the discomfort felt among both groups of workers. Physiological assessment of the workload was carried out by the measurement of heart rate, blood pressure and spirometry of the workers. Results Child brickfield workers suffer from pain, especially in the lower back (97%), shoulder (88%), hands (82%), wrist (76%), neck (73%) and ankle (71%). The post-activity heart rate of the child brickfield workers was 166.5 beats/min, whereas the systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 132.2 and 67.2 mm/Hg, respectively. The forced vital capacity value of child brickfield workers was 2.04, and in the case of the controls it was 2.18, which was significantly different. The forced expiratory volumes in 1 s of experimental and control subjects were 1.82 and 1.92, respectively. The peak expiratory flow rate was significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions Most of the brick-making activities were strenuous ones that affected the children. The cardiovascular and respiratory health of the child brickfield workers has changed markedly due to strenuous activity. The child brickfield workers also experienced other occupational health problems and severe musculoskeletal pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: no study has examined the longitudinal association between hand-grip strength and mental health, such as depressive symptoms. Objective: we investigated the relationship between baseline hand-grip strength and the risk of depressive symptoms. Design: a prospective cohort study. Low hand-grip strength associates with depression Setting and Subjects: a prospective cohort study with a 1-year follow-up was conducted using 4,314 subjects from community-dwelling individuals aged 40--79 years in two Japanese municipalities, based on the Locomotive Syndrome and Health Outcomes in Aizu Cohort Study (LOHAS, 2008-10). Methods: we assessed baseline hand-grip strength standardised using national representative data classified by age and gender, and depressive symptoms at baseline and after the follow-up using the five-item version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5). Results: the 4,314 subjects had a mean age of 66.3 years, 58.5% were women, and mean unadjusted hand-grip strength was 29.8 kg. Multivariable random-effect logistic regression analysis revealed that subjects with lower hand-grip strength (per 1SD decrease) had higher odds of having depressive symptoms at baseline [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06--1.24; P = 0.001]. Further, lower hand-grip strength (per 1SD decrease) was associated with the longitudinal development of depressive symptoms after 1 year (AOR 1.13, 95% CI 1.01-1.27; P= 0.036). Conclusions: using a large population-based sample, our results suggest that lower hand-grip strength, standardised using age and gender, is both cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]