A simple leg strength test should be used to identify people who are more likely to develop heart failure, experts have heard.
Research conducted in Japan and presented at Heart Failure 2023, in Prague, Czechia, concluded the easy and simple to measure test should be recommended for patients who have experienced a heart attack.
The team at Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Sagamihara, analysed 932 patients who were hospitalised between 2007 to 2020 with acute myocardial infarction, to test the hypothesis that leg strength is associated with a lower risk of developing heart failure after acute myocardial infarction.
The median age was 66 years and 753 participants (81%) were men. None had heart failure prior to their admission and did not develop heart failure complications during their hospital stay.
Maximal quadriceps strength was measured, which necessitated patients sitting on a chair and contracting the quadriceps muscles as hard as possible for five seconds.
A handheld dynamometer attached to the ankle recorded the maximum value in kilogrammes and each leg was measured.
Strength was expressed relative to body weight and patients were categorised as having ‘high’ or ‘low’ strength according to whether their value was above or below the median for their sex – 33% body weight for women and 52% for men.
Out of the 932 participants, 451 patients had low quadriceps strength and 481 had high strength, and an average follow-up of 4.5 years saw 67 patients (7.2%) develop heart failure.
The incidence of heart failure was 10.2 per 1,000 person-years in patients with high quadriceps strength and 22.9 per 1,000 person-years in those with low strength.
When the team analysed the association between quadriceps strength and the risk of developing heart failure, they found compared with low quadriceps strength, a high strength was associated with a 41% lower risk of developing heart failure.
Analysis of the association between quadriceps strength as a continuous variable and the risk of developing heart failure ascertained that each 5% body weight increment in quadriceps strength was associated with an 11% lower likelihood of heart failure.
Study author Mr Kensuke Ueno, a physical therapist at the Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, said: “Quadriceps strength is easy and simple to measure accurately in clinical practice.
“Our study indicates that quadriceps strength could help to identify patients at a higher risk of developing heart failure after myocardial infarction who could then receive more intense surveillance.
“The findings need to be replicated in other studies, but they do suggest that strength training involving the quadriceps muscles should be recommended for patients who have experienced a heart attack to prevent heart failure.”
Abstract: People with strong legs are less likely to develop heart failure after a heart attack. Research presented at Heart Failure 2023.
Leave a Reply