Association between changes in working status and hand-grip strength among Korean middle-aged and older adults: a longitudinal panel study

We investigated the association between working status changes and hand-grip strength (HGS) among middle-aged and older Korean adults using data from the 2006–2018 Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. After excluding those with less than normal HGS in the baseline year, newly added panels, and missing values, 3843 participants (2106 men; 1737 women) were finally included. After adjusting for potential confounders, we used a 2-year lagged multivariable generalized estimating equation model to examine this association longitudinally. Men who quit working or who continued to be non-working were more likely to have lower HGS than those who continued to work (working → non-working, adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26–1.70; non-working → non-working, adjusted OR: 1.52, 95% CI 1.34–1.72). Compared to women who continued to work, the other three groups showed high ORs with low HGS (working → non-working, adjusted OR: 1.19, 95% CI 1.01–1.40; non-working → working, adjusted OR: 1.18, 95% CI 0.98–1.42; non-working → non-working, adjusted OR: 1.38, 95% CI 1.22–1.56). Middle-aged and older adults whose working status changed to non-working were at higher risk of reduced HGS than others and required muscular strength training interventions to improve HGS and prevent sarcopenia.