Preprint Repeated Hand Grip Strength is an Objective Marker for Disability and Severity of Key Symptoms in Post-COVID ME/CFS, 2024, Paffrath et al.

Repeated Hand Grip Strength is an Objective Marker for Disability and Severity of Key Symptoms in Post-COVID ME/CFS
Anna Paffrath; Laura Kim; Claudia Kedor; Elisa Stein; Rebekka Rust; Helma Freitag; Uta Hoppmann; Leif G Hanitsch; Judith Bellmann-Strobl; Kirsten Wittke; Carmen Scheibenbogen; Franziska Sotzny

Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS) refers to a diverse array of symptoms that persist beyond 3 months of the acute phase of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The most frequent symptom is fatigue, which can manifest both mentally and physically.

In this study, handgrip strength (HGS) parameters were determined as an objective measure of muscle fatigue and fatigability. HGS parameters were correlated with other frequent symptoms among 144 female PCS patients suffering from fatigue, exertional intolerance, and cognitive impairment. Seventy-eight patients met the Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC) for post-infectious myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The severity of disability and key symptoms were evaluated utilizing self-reported questionnaires.

Notably, patients diagnosed with ME/CFS exhibited a higher overall severity of symptoms, including lower physical function (p < 0.001), a greater degree of disability (p < 0.001), more severe fatigue (p < 0.001), post-exertional malaise (p < 0.001), and autonomic dysfunction (p = 0.004). While HGS was similarly impaired in both PCS and ME/CFS patients, the associations between HGS and the severity of symptoms and disability revealed striking differences. We observed significant correlations of HGS parameters with physical function across all patients, but with the key symptoms PEM, fatigue, cognitive impairment, and autonomic dysfunction in ME/CFS patients only.

This points to a common mechanism for these symptoms in the ME/CFS subtype, distinct from that in other types of PCS. Further HGS provides an objective marker of disease severity in ME/CFS.


Link | PDF (Preprint: MedRxiv)

 

I had repeated HGS testing done as part of my income protection claim assessment. It was to me a pretty effective way of showing how broken my body was, I couldn’t even complete the small number of grips that they wanted on day one and couldn’t do any on day two - suggestive of PEM (but the results were used to try to suggest that I wasn’t trying as hard as I could . Thankfully, the insurer paid despite the barbaric assessment.)

 

Now published:
https://www.s4me.info/threads/impai...-post-covid-me-cfs-paffrath-et-al-2024.38005/