Myles, Louise, Barnett, Fiona, and Massy-Westropp, Nicola (2025) Do functional and biological factors influence the handgrip strength: A systematic review. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 88 (4). pp. 198-216.

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Abstract

Introduction: The measurement of handgrip strength is widely accepted for assessing and evaluating hand function. Age and gender are known factors that correlate directly with the handgrip strength. This review aimed to identify whether other biological and functional factors influence adult handgrip strength and if so, which are the most important. Method: A systematic review was performed on studies that examined handgrip strength in relation to biological and functional factors including anthropometric characteristics, occupation, hand dominance and ethnicity within a working-aged population. Results: The search retrieved 19 studies which were critiqued using the McMasters Critical Appraisal Tool. This review concludes an individual’s height, hand length, hand width/palm width, forearm circumference and hand dominance along with their occupation influence handgrip strength in addition to the established categories of age and gender. It is recommended that future research examines how these factors influence handgrip strength to allow for improved interpretation of handgrip strength in comparison to normative data sets.

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