HAND GRIP STRENGTH IN TYPE II DIABETES

Recently, reduced hand strength is recognized as a complication of type II diabetes. Hand grip strength is an important parameter to evaluate the power of the hand. This study was done to assess the hand grip strength in type II diabetics and also to compare it between diabetics and healthy males and females. This study was conducted on 40 type II diabetics of age group 35-50 years with duration of diabetes 5-10years and 40 healthy controls of same age group. Hand grip strength testing was done in all subjects using Handgrip Dynamometer and the results were analyzed statistically using students t test. Statistically significant difference was found in hand grip strength between type II diabetics and healthy controls. Similarly the values of handgrip measurements were reduced in diabetic males and females when compared with the healthy males and females. This proves that type II diabetics have reduced hand grip strength in both male and female subjects. This physical limitation results in low productivity in people with type II diabetics. Hence, strict glycemic control and regular resistance exercise is recommended to improve the hand muscle strength.