April 7, 2026, 9:17 am | Read time: 2 minutes
As people age, muscle strength continuously declines. This loss is closely linked to health and independence in daily life. A study examined the relationship between muscle strength and mortality risk in older women.
What Did the Study Examine?
The study, published in “JAMA Network Open” by a U.S. research team, included 5,472 women aged 63 to 99.1 At the start, between 2012 and 2014, participants completed two simple strength tests: measuring grip strength with a special device and standing up from a chair five times in a timed test. Additionally, they wore a motion sensor for a week to objectively record physical activity and sitting times. The women were then followed for an average of 8.4 years.
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The Results
During the follow-up period, 1,964 participants died. Higher muscle strength was clearly associated with lower mortality.
- Women with the highest grip strength had about a 33 percent lower risk of death compared to those with the lowest. These associations remained even when age, pre-existing conditions, blood pressure, smoking, body weight, physical activity, daily sitting time, walking speed as a measure of endurance fitness, and blood inflammation levels were statistically accounted for.
- Even among women who did not meet the recommended 150 minutes of endurance exercise per week, higher grip strength was still associated with lower mortality.
- Participants who could stand up from a chair five times particularly quickly had about a 37 percent lower risk of death than the slowest group.
What Does the Study Mean?
The results show that higher grip strength in older age is associated with lower mortality, even when other risk factors are statistically considered. The association persisted even after including actual measured endurance activity, sitting time, and cardiovascular fitness. Thus, grip strength proved to be a particularly robust marker for mortality risk.
It is also noteworthy that researchers observed this association even among women who relied on a walking aid. The findings underscore the importance of muscle strength in old age and align with the recommendation to engage in strength training at least twice a week.
Important: The study exclusively examined older women who could still walk independently—some with a walking aid. Bedridden or permanently non-ambulatory individuals were not included.
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