Associations of relative muscular strength with blood pressure changes and incident hypertension: a prospective cohort study in Korea.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a chronic condition that increases the risk of incident cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. This study investigates the association between relative handgrip strength (rHGS), blood pressure (BP) changes, and incident hypertension risk. METHODS: Data from 25,103 hypertension-free participants from nationwide Korean cohorts at baseline were analyzed. Participants were categorized into sex-specific rHGS tertiles (low, mid, and high). Multiple linear regression models assessed the rHGS associations with annual BP changes, whereas multiple Cox proportional hazard regression models estimated incident hypertension risk. RESULTS: Over 105,833.68 person-years of follow-up, 3,401 (13.55%) participants developed hypertension. Every 0.1-unit increase in rHGS was associated with an annual decrease of 0.04 mmHg in systolic BP (SBP) and 0.02 mmHg in diastolic BP (DBP) among women. Women with mid and high rHGS had a 15% and 23% lower risk of hypertension, respectively, than those with low rHGS. In men, every 0.1-unit increase in rHGS was associated with an annual decrease of 0.02 mmHg in SBP; however, no significant association was observed between rHGS levels and incident hypertension risk. CONCLUSIONS: Higher muscular strength may protect against hypertension, particularly in women. However, the observed annual SBP reduction with increasing rHGS in men and women suggests that higher muscular strength may improve BP.