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Beyond covariate adjustment: body size and sex in the interpretation of the association between pulmonary function and handgrip strength
Letter/Communication   Peer reviewed

Beyond covariate adjustment: body size and sex in the interpretation of the association between pulmonary function and handgrip strength

Nnamdi Mgbemena
European journal of applied physiology
17/08/2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-026-06394-4
PMID: 42606621
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Health Publications

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Abstract

To the Editor, I read with interest the study by Osailan et al. (2026) examining the relationship between pulmonary function and handgrip strength (HGS) in healthy young adults. The authors should be commended for addressing an understudied question and for attempting to account for several demographic, anthropometric and lifestyle factors in their analyses. The study found moderate positive associations between absolute forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second, peak expiratory flow and HGS in unadjusted analyses; however, these associations were substantially attenuated after adjustment for age, sex, height, weight, physical activity and smoking status. In a sample of 71 participants, the hierarchical regression models suggested that the addition of spirometric variables contributed relatively little additional explanatory value beyond the demographic, anthropometric and lifestyle covariates. These findings raise two methodological considerations that may merit further discussion and consideration in future research.

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