Muscular Strength Associated With Lower Mortality in Older Women

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Greater muscular strength is associated with lower mortality for older women, according to a study published online Feb. 13 in JAMA Network Open.

Michael J. LaMonte, Ph.D., from State University of New York at Buffalo, and colleagues assessed whether muscular strength is associated with mortality in older women. The analysis included 5,472 women aged 63 to 99 years.

The researchers found that during a mean of 8.4 years, when controlling for age and sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors, there were significant inverse trends in mortality across quartiles 2 through 4 of grip strength (quartile 2: hazard ratio [HR], 0.94; 95 percent confidence [CI], 0.85 to 1.06; quartile 3: HR, 0.85; 95 percent CI, 0.75 to 0.97; quartile 4: HR, 0.67; 95 percent CI, 0.58 to 0.78; P for trend < 0.001) and chair stand time (quartile 2: HR, 0.79; 95 percent CI, 0.69 to 0.88; quartile 3: HR, 0.76; 95 percent CI, 0.67 to 0.87; quartile 4: HR, 0.63; 95 percent CI, 0.54 to 0.73; P for trend < 0.001). When additionally controlling for sedentary time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, associations were attenuated but similar. There were also inverse associations when controlling for walking speed and the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. Associations were similar across subgroups defined by age, race and ethnicity, body mass index, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, sedentary time, or timed walk.

“Healthy aging probably is best pursued through adequate amounts of both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activities,” LaMonte said in a statement. “When we no longer can get out of the chair and move around, we are in trouble.”

Abstract/Full Text