Association between Handgrip Strength and Depression and Anxiety in Korean Adults: Analysis of the 2014–2023 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the association between handgrip strength (HGS) and the prevalence of depression and anxiety in Korean adults, and to identify whether these relationships differ by sex.Methods: A total of 19,368 adults who responded to the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and 5,706 adults who responded to the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale were analyzed using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.HGS was categorized into tertiles for each sex.Multiple logistic regression was conducted to examine the association between HGS and mental health outcomes, adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health-related covariates.Results: Higher levels of HGS were significantly associated with a lower prevalence of depression in both males and females.However, HGS was not significantly associated with anxiety in males, while only females in the highest HGS tertile showed a significantly lower odds ratio for anxiety. Conclusion:This study suggests that lower muscle strength, as indicated by HGS, may be a potential risk factor for depression, with sex-specific patterns observed in relation to anxiety.These findings underscore the importance of maintaining muscular strength, particularly in the prevention of depression.