Impact of Hand Grip Strength on Length of Hospital Stay After Cardiac Surgery Among Elderly Patients

"Preoperative hand grip strength will be measured in kilograms using a digital hand dynamometer (Baseline Smedley Digital Hand Dynamometer, Model 12-0286, Baseline Evaluation Instruments, China). Participants will be instructed to grip the hand dynamometer for 5 seconds with their dominant hand 3 times. They will be allowed to rest for 20 second between each grip. The highest measurement of 3 attempts will be recorded. Participants will be categorized as strong grippers or weak grippers according to Fried criteria as previously defined by Linda P. Fried and colleagues. A weak grip will be defined as follows:~For men:~BMI ≤24: hand grip strength ≤29 kg; BMI =24.1 to 28: hand grip strength ≤30 kg; BMI \>28: hand grip strength ≤32 kg~For women:~BMI ≤23: hand grip strength ≤17 kg; BMI =23.1 to 26: hand grip strength ≤17.3 kg; BMI =26.1 to 29: hand grip strength ≤18 kg; BMI \>29: hand grip strength ≤21 kg"