Die Messung der Greifkraft als objektives Gesundheitsmaß in sozialwissenschaftlichen Bevölkerungsumfragen Erhebungsmethodische und inhaltliche Befunde auf der Basis von SHARE und SOEP

This paper shows that the measurement of hand grip strength provides a non-invasive and reliable objective health indicator for social science research and is easy to collect in general population surveys. Grip strength is not only a useful complement of self-reported indicators of health, but it also exhibits a considerable predictive power with regard to a number of further relevant variables, such as mortality risks. New data from the 2004 Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the 2005 Pretest of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) allow first methodological and substantive cross-sectional analyses of grip strength in Germany. The focus of the present study is on the analysis of older individuals aged 50+. The experience of both surveys when measuring grip strength is consistently positive, particularly with regard to the respondents' feedback. Major determinants of isometric grip strength are the individual's sex as well as age, body size and weight. A multivariate analysis shows that socio-economic characteristics (except for men's employment status) do not have an autonomous, statistically significant explanatory power. Our results provide evidence for a clear positive association between health and grip strength, though. Moreover, our findings indicate that various dimensions of health are independently correlated with grip strength, some of them irrespective of the subject's age. Based on this experience, the perspectives for future longitudinal studies which are the actual aim of the measurements are considered to be excellent.