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Background: no study has examined the longitudinal association between hand-grip strength and mental health, such as depressive symptoms. Objective: we investigated the relationship between baseline hand-grip strength and the risk of depressive symptoms. Design: a prospective cohort study. Low hand-grip strength associates with depression Setting and Subjects: a prospective cohort study with a 1-year follow-up was conducted using 4,314 subjects from community-dwelling individuals aged 40--79 years in two Japanese municipalities, based on the Locomotive Syndrome and Health Outcomes in Aizu Cohort Study (LOHAS, 2008-10). Methods: we assessed baseline hand-grip strength standardised using national representative data classified by age and gender, and depressive symptoms at baseline and after the follow-up using the five-item version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5). Results: the 4,314 subjects had a mean age of 66.3 years, 58.5% were women, and mean unadjusted hand-grip strength was 29.8 kg. Multivariable random-effect logistic regression analysis revealed that subjects with lower hand-grip strength (per 1SD decrease) had higher odds of having depressive symptoms at baseline [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06--1.24; P = 0.001]. Further, lower hand-grip strength (per 1SD decrease) was associated with the longitudinal development of depressive symptoms after 1 year (AOR 1.13, 95% CI 1.01-1.27; P= 0.036). Conclusions: using a large population-based sample, our results suggest that lower hand-grip strength, standardised using age and gender, is both cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]