Palmar strength and sociodemographic, clinical-functional, and psycho-cognitive factors in elderly with Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract Introduction: An important consequence of the aging of people with DM2 is physical disability, particularly the loss of mobility. Objective: To determine sociodemographic, clinical-functional, and psycho-cognitive factors related to the reduction in hand grip strength (HGS) in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and to verify the relationship between HGS and fragility. Method: This is an observational cross-sectional study with 156 elderly individuals aged 60 years and over, both male and female, diagnosed with DM2. The participants were assessed according to sociodemographic, clinical-functional, psycho-cognitive, and functional mobility data. HGS was evaluated using a manual dynamometer. The tests performed were: Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis, and Chi-square. The level of significance was set at 5% (p