Association between handgrip strength and cognition in a Chinese population with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment

Abstract Background This study aimed to explore the level and changes in handgrip strength among preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD patients and to evaluate the association between handgrip strength and cognitive function. Methods A total of 1431 participants from the memory clinic of Shanghai JiaoTong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital and community were enrolled in the final analysis, including 596 AD, 288 mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 547 normal individuals (NC). All participants received a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic (MoCA-BC), and the Chinese version of Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III-CV) were used as cognitive tests. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was plotted to assess the power of handgrip strength as a screening measure to discriminate AD and MCI. Results The results showed that handgrip strength in the MCI group was significantly lower than that of NC group, and the AD group had a further decline (both P