Hand grip strength and diabetic foot ulcers: A mini-review

  • Nikolaos Karakousis Second Department of Internal Medicine, Diabetes Centre-Diabetic Foot Clinic, Democritus University of Thrace, Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
  • Elisavet Pyrgioti Independent researcher, Athens, Greece
  • Dimitrios Karagiannakis Academic Department of Gastroenterology, Laiko General Hospital, Medical School of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
  • Petros Georgakopoulos Primary Healthcare, Internal Medicine Department, Attica, Amarousion, Greece
  • Konstantinos Alexiou Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, IASO Thessalias, Larissa, Greece
  • Nikolaos Papanas Second Department of Internal Medicine, Diabetes Centre-Diabetic Foot Clinic, Democritus University of Thrace, Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
Keywords: hand grip strength, diabetes mellitus, diabetic foot, diabetic foot ulcers, sarcopenia

Abstract

This narrative mini-review article aimed to discuss the emerging association between hand grip strength (HGS) and diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). HGS is related to muscle strength and conditions such as sarcopenia. However, it can be utilized as a confirmative evaluation test of sarcopenia after initial screening tools such as the SARC-F questionnaire. Diabetes mellitus (DM) seems to be related to sarcopenia and skeletal muscle mass loss. In this narrative mini-review article, it was demonstrated that older type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) subjects with DFUs had a higher rate of low HGS, while low HGS was significantly related to the occurrence of DFUs. Additionally, HGS might be a significant predictor not only of wound healing but also of the overall survival of DFU subjects and the likelihood of amputation. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to enable definitive conclusions and suggest potential practical implications.

Published
2024-09-30
How to Cite
Karakousis, Nikolaos, Elisavet Pyrgioti, Dimitrios Karagiannakis, Petros Georgakopoulos, Konstantinos Alexiou, and Nikolaos Papanas. 2024. “Hand Grip Strength and Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Mini-Review”. Romanian Journal of Diabetes Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases 31 (3), 356-63. http://rjdnmd.org/index.php/RJDNMD/article/view/1693.