Comparison of the AWGS and optimal stratification-defined handgrip strength thresholds for predicting survival in patients with lung cancer

Abstract Objectives Handgrip strength (HGS) is related to cancer mortality. In the present study, we sought to compare the performance of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 (AWGS)- and optimal stratification (OS)-defined HGS thresholds for predicting the survival of lung cancer (LC) patients. Methods We performed an observational cohort study including 3230 LC patients admitted to five institutions in China from November 2011 to January 2019. Comprehensive baseline and follow-up information was documented. Sex-specific thresholds for identifying patients with a low HGS were defined based on the AWGS ( Results The study included 1041 females and 2189 males with a mean age of 60 years and a median follow-up time of 761 days. The OS-calculated HGS thresholds were Conclusions The OS-defined HGS thresholds show better performance than the AWGS for predicting the survival of LC patients. Additionally, the HGS had N-shaped associations with the overall mortality among female LC patients.