Analysis of the Prevalence of Sarcopenia and Its Risk Factors in the Elderly in the Chengdu Community

Development and Validation of PRE-SARC (PREdiction of SARCopenia Risk in Community Older Adults) Sarcopenia Prediction Model

OBJECTIVE

Reliable identification of high-risk older adults who are likely to develop sarcopenia is essential to implement targeted preventive measures and follow-up. However, no sarcopenia prediction model is currently available for community use. Our objective was to develop and validate a risk prediction model for calculating the 1-year absolute risk of developing sarcopenia in an aging population.

METHODS

One prospective population-based cohort of non-sarcopenic individuals aged 60 years or older were used for the development of a sarcopenia risk prediction model and model validation. Sarcopenia was defined according to the 2019 Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia consensus. Stepwise logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for sarcopenia incidence within a 1-year follow-up. Model performance was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) and calibration plot, respectively.

RESULTS

The development cohort included 1042 older adults, among whom 87 participants developed sarcopenia during a 1-year follow-up. The PRE-SARC (PREdiction of SARCopenia Risk in community older adults) model can accurately predict the 1-year risk of sarcopenia by using 7 easily accessible community-based predictors. The PRE-SARC model performed well in predicting sarcopenia, with an AUROC of 87% (95% CI, 0.83-0.90) and good calibration. Internal validation showed minimal optimism, with an adjusted AUROC of 0.85. The prediction score was categorized into 4 risk groups: low (0%-10%), moderate (>10%-20%), high (>20%-40%), and very high (>40%). The PRE-SARC model has been incorporated into an online risk calculator, which is freely accessible for daily clinical applications (https://sarcopeniariskprediction.shinyapps.io/dynnomapp/).

CONCLUSIONS

In community-dwelling individuals, the PRE-SARC model can accurately predict 1-year sarcopenia incidence. This model serves as a readily available and free accessible tool to identify older adults at high risk of sarcopenia, thereby facilitating personalized early preventive approaches and optimizing the utilization of health care resources.

Adverse postoperative outcomes in elderly patients with sarcopenia

PURPOSE

No study has compared 30-day and 90-day adverse postoperative outcomes between old-age patients with and those without sarcopenia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We categorize elderly patients receiving major surgery into two groups according to the presence or absence of preoperative sarcopenia that were matched at a 1:4 ratio through propensity score matching (PSM). We analyzed 30-day or 90-day adverse postoperative outcomes and mortality in patients with and without sarcopenia receiving major surgery.

RESULTS

Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that the patients with preoperative sarcopenia were at significantly higher risk of 30-day postoperative mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]. = 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI]. = 1.03-1.52) and 30-day major complications such as postoperative pneumonia (aOR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.00-1.40), postoperative bleeding (aOR = 2.18; 95% CI = 1.04-4.57), septicemia (aOR = 1.31; 95% CI = 1.03-1.66), and overall complications (aOR = 1.13; 95% CI = 1.00-1.46). In addition, surgical patients with sarcopenia were at significantly higher risk of 90-day postoperative mortality (aOR = 1.50; 95% CI = 1.29-1.74) and 90-day major complications such as pneumonia (aOR = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.10-1.47), postoperative bleeding (aOR = 1.90; 95% CI = 1.04-3.48), septicemia (aOR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.28-1.82), and overall complications (aOR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.08-1.42).

CONCLUSIONS

Sarcopenia is an independent risk factor for 30-day and 90-day adverse postoperative outcomes such as pneumonia, postoperative bleeding, and septicemia and increases 30-day and 90-day postoperative mortality among patients receiving major surgery. No study has compared 30-day and 90-day adverse postoperative outcomes between patients with and those without sarcopenia. We conducted a propensity score?matched (PSM) population-based cohort study to investigate the adverse postoperative outcomes and mortality in patients undergoing major elective surgery with preoperative sarcopenia versus those without preoperative sarcopenia. We demonstrated that sarcopenia is an independent risk factor for 30-day and 90-day adverse postoperative outcomes, such as postoperative pneumonia, bleeding, septicemia, and mortality after major surgery. Therefore, surgeons and anesthesiologists should attempt to correct preoperative sarcopenia, swallowing function, and respiratory muscle training before elective surgery to reduce postoperative complications that contribute to the decrease in surgical mortality.

Effects of cigarette smoking associated with sarcopenia in persons 60 years and older: a cross-sectional study in Zhejiang province

PURPOSE

Smoking is a risk factor for sarcopenia. Nevertheless, few studies analyzed the independent effects of various smoking dimensions (duration, intensity, cumulative dose) on sarcopenia risk. This is a cross-sectional study based on an older population in Zhejiang Province to determine which smoking dimensions are mainly important for sarcopenia risk and to explore the dose-response relationship between them.

METHODS

Our study included 783 patients with sarcopenia and 4918 non-sarcopenic individuals. Logistic regression and restricted cubic with logistic regression (for nonlinear dose effects) were used to obtain odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals as well as restricted cubic splines (RCS) curves.

RESULTS

Compared with never-smokers, current smokers had an increased risk of sarcopenia (OR = 1.786; 95% CI 1.387-2.301) after adjusting for confounders such as age, sex, education, alcohol consumption, disease history, etc. There was no significant association between smoking intensity and sarcopenia after more than 20 cigarettes per day (OR = 1.484; 95% CI 0.886-2.487), whereas the risk of sarcopenia increased significantly with increasing duration of smoking after more than 40 years (OR = 1.733; 95% CI 1.214-2.473). Meanwhile, there was a significant non-linear dose-response relationship between smoking duration or intensity and the risk of sarcopenia. However, the risk of sarcopenia increased linearly with the number of pack-years of smoking, which is not a significant nonlinear dose-response relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicated the association between smoking and sarcopenia. Both smoking duration and cumulative dose were significantly and positively associated with sarcopenia. These findings reflect the important role of the number of years of smoking in increasing the risk of sarcopenia and provide scientific evidence that different smoking dimensions may influence the risk of the sarcopenia.

Sleeping more than 8 h: a silent factor contributing to decreased muscle mass in Chinese community-dwelling older adults

BACKGROUND

Muscle mass loss is an age-related process that can be exacerbated by lifestyle, environmental and other factors, but can be mitigated by good sleep. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between varying time lags of sleep duration and the decline in muscle mass among individuals aged 60 years or older by using real-world health monitoring data obtained from wearable devices and smart home health monitoring devices.

METHODS

This study included 86,037 observations from 2,869 participants in the Mobile Support System database. Missing data were supplemented by multiple imputation. The investigation utilized generalized estimating equations and restricted cubic spline curve to examine the relationship between sleep duration and low muscle mass. Various lag structures, including 0, 1, 2, 0-1, 0-2, and 1-2 months, were fitted, and the interaction effect of observation time with sleep duration was estimated for each lag structure. Additionally, subgroup analyses were conducted. The models were adjusted for various covariates, including gender, age, body mass index, footsteps, smoking status, drinking status, marital status, number of chronic diseases, number of medications, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, respiratory disease, and musculoskeletal disease and an interaction term between time and sleep duration.

RESULTS

The results of the generalized estimating equation showed a significant correlation (p < 0.001) between sleep duration of 8 h or more and low muscle mass in older adults, using 6-7 h of sleep as a reference. This effect was seen over time and prolonged sleep accumulated over multiple months had a greater effect on muscle mass loss than a single month. The effect of long sleep duration on muscle mass loss was significantly greater in females than in males and greater in the over-75 than in the under-75 age group. Restricted cubic spline plots showed a non-linear relationship between sleep duration and low muscle mass (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study found an association between sustained nighttime sleep of more than eight hours and decreased muscle mass in older adults, especially older women.

Association of Performance on Multiple Cognitive Domains with Sarcopenia among Middle-Aged and Older Adults

INTRODUCTION

The relationship between cognitive function and subsequent sarcopenia remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the associations of performance on multiple cognitive domains with sarcopenia in the middle-aged and older adults.

METHODS

This longitudinal analysis (wave 2011-2013) included 2,934 participants from the CHARLS study. Sarcopenia was defined by the Asian Sarcopenia Working Group 2019 criteria. Cognitive function was measured by the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Three interpretable techniques, namely SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) and two built-in methods (coefficients of logistic regression and Gini importance of random forest), were used to assess the relationship between MMSE, its components (orientation, attention, episodic memory, and visuospatial ability) and sarcopenia. In addition, the association of MMSE score and its components with sarcopenia was further validated using stepwise regression.

RESULTS

All interpretable methods showed that MMSE score was important predictors of sarcopenia, especially the SHAP (MMSE score ranked top one). For its components, episodic memory, visuospatial ability, and attention showed high predictive value compared with orientation. Stepwise regression analyses showed that MMSE score and its components of episodic memory and visuospatial ability were correlated with sarcopenia, with their odds ratios of 0.93 (95% CI: 0.91-0.96, p < 0.001), 0.87 (95% CI: 0.82-0.93, p < 0.001), and 1.32 (95% CI: 1.05-1.65, p = 0.016), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Better cognitive function especially episodic memory and visuospatial ability was negatively associated with incident sarcopenia among community middle-aged and older adults.

Prevalence of sarcopenia and depressive symptoms among older adults: a scoping review

Sarcopenia causes a loss of skeletal muscle mass and decreases muscle strength and function. Depressive symptoms are a common cause of distress among geriatrics, significantly affecting the quality of life of older adults. Recently, studies have shown that a correlation exists between sarcopenia and depression. To determine the prevalence of sarcopenia and depressive symptoms and identify the factors associated with sarcopenia, we systematically searched the SCOPUS, Science Direct, and PubMed databases for papers on sarcopenia and depressive symptoms published from 2012 to 2022. We reviewed the literature on sarcopenia, depressive symptom prevalence, the prevalence of subjects with both sarcopenia and depressive symptoms, and the factors associated with sarcopenia. Only cross-sectional studies were included. Nineteen articles met the inclusion criteria for review, with overall sarcopenia prevalence ranging from 3.9% to 41.7%. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was reported in seven studies, ranging from 8.09% to 40%. The most commonly used tools to diagnose sarcopenia and depressive symptoms were the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People consensus and the Geriatric Depression Scale, respectively. Being aged, malnourished, obese, having comorbidities (hypertension and diabetes), having impaired cognitive function, and having polypharmacy were found to be the factors associated with sarcopenia. Sarcopenia and depressive symptoms have been found to cause adverse health outcomes among older people. Appropriate nutritional assessments and interventions should be taken to manage these two geriatric conditions. Further studies should be planned, considering multidomain intervention strategies to improve sarcopenia and older people's mental health.

Factors Associated with Sarcopenia among Elderly Individuals Residing in Community and Nursing Home Settings: A Systematic Review with a Meta-Analysis

To investigate the factors associated with sarcopenia in elderly individuals residing in nursing homes and community settings, we conducted a systematic search of databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane, up to May 2023. We incorporated a total of 70 studies into our analysis. Our findings revealed that the prevalence of sarcopenia in nursing homes ranged from 25% to 73.7%, while in community settings, it varied from 5.2% to 62.7%. The factors associated with sarcopenia in both nursing homes and community settings included male gender, BMI, malnutrition, and osteoarthritis. In community settings, these factors comprised age, poor nutrition status, small calf circumference, smoking, physical inactivity, cognitive impairment, diabetes, depression and heart disease. Currently, both the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) and the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) standards are widely utilized in nursing homes and community settings, with the EWGSOP standard being more applicable to nursing homes. Identifying factors associated with sarcopenia is of paramount significance, particularly considering that some of them can be modified and managed. Further research is warranted to investigate the impact of preventive measures on these factors in the management of sarcopenia among elderly individuals residing in nursing homes and community settings.

Prevalence of Sarcopenia in Africa: A Systematic Review

Objective

The world population gradually getting older, age-related sarcopenia is becoming more frequent. Known to be highly prevalent in high income countries, relative data in Africa are still scarce. This review aims to estimate the prevalence of sarcopenia in Africa and its characteristics.

Study Design and Setting

A literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus was conducted in October 2022. All studies reporting the prevalence of sarcopenia in Africa within 15 years were included, and we did an assessment of bias with Hoy et al's risk bias assessment tool. The estimated prevalence of sarcopenia was the outcome and we performed secondary analyses by age, gender, and diagnostic criteria. The random effect model was used for the prevalence estimation. The prevalence of sarcopenia and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated using the inverse-variance method.

Results

A total of 17 studies met our eligibility criteria, for a study population of 12,690 participants with 44.3% males and 55.7% females. The overall prevalence of sarcopenia was 25% (95% CI: 19-30%). The prevalence of sarcopenia among 50 years old and older was 23% (95% CI: 17-29%). We had a higher prevalence of sarcopenia among males (30%, %95 IC: 20-39%) than females (29%, %95 IC: 21-36%). The prevalence of sarcopenia was different depending on the diagnosis criteria used.

Conclusion

The prevalence of sarcopenia in Africa was relatively high. However, the fact that the majority of included studies were hospital-based studies shows the necessity of further community-based studies in order to have a more accurate representation of the situation in the general population.

Prevalence of sarcopenia and its association with clinical outcomes in heart failure: An updated meta-analysis and systematic review

BACKGROUND

Sarcopenia is thought to be strongly associated with heart failure, but meta-analyses with sufficient samples are still lacking to accurately address its clinical situation.

HYPOTHESIS

Sarcopenia has a high prevalence in patients with heart failure and is closely related to adverse clinical outcomes.

METHODS

Relevant databases were systematically searched in October 2021 and updated in July 2022. The data with high heterogeneity were combined with random effects model.

RESULTS

Twenty-one studies with 68,556 HF patients were included. The combined prevalence of sarcopenia in HF patients was 31%. Subgroup analysis found that the prevalence of sarcopenia in HF patients was 35% in Asia, 31% in Europe, 25% in the Americas, 31% in people aged ≥65 years, 25% in people with age <65 years, 28% in HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) patients and 18% in HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients. In addition, our analysis shows that sarcopenia in patients with HF is associated with an increased risk of poor prognosis, with a combined hazard ratio [HR] of 1.64 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.20-5.25), sarcopenia was also associated with poor outcomes in HFrEF patients with pooled HR of 2.77 (95% CI = 1.29-5.95). However, it was not associated with poor outcomes in HFpEF patients with pooled HR of 1.61 (95% CI = 0.82-3.16).

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of sarcopenia is high in HF patients, and patients with HF, particularly those with reduced ejection fraction, are at high risk of adverse outcomes from sarcopenia. Therefore, early identification and intervention for sarcopenia were beneficial for improving the prognosis of HF patients.

Prevalence and associated factors of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults at risk of malnutrition

BACKGROUND

There is an increasingly strong association between sarcopenia and malnutrition in research findings. We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults (≥ 65 years) at risk of malnutrition based on Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST).

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study of 811 participants. Participants were recruited from the general population, community centers, senior activity centers, polyclinics, and hospital. Community-dwelling older adults at risk of malnutrition participated in the study. Participants' data and measurements were collected at the baseline visit. Data included socio-demographic information, anthropometric measurements, body composition, dietary intakes, and functional assessments. Sarcopenia was defined using the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 consensus.

RESULTS

Of the 694 participants with complete datasets, overall prevalence of sarcopenia was 76% (n = 530); 57% (n = 393) had severe sarcopenia. In the overall cohort, compared to participants without sarcopenia, those with sarcopenia were older, had lower physical activity scale for the elderly score, leg strength, handgrip endurance, mid-upper arm circumference, calf circumference, and bone mass, and had lower dietary protein intake and poorer nutritional status (all p ≤ 0.015). After adjusting for confounders, sarcopenia was significantly associated with older age, male gender, higher risk of malnutrition, lower calf circumference, and lower bone mass (all p ≤ 0.044).

CONCLUSIONS

In community-dwelling older adults at risk of malnutrition, there is a high prevalence of sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia. As such, screening positive for either malnutrition risk or sarcopenia in older adults should prompt screening for the other risk factor, to allow early institution of disease modifying interventions to forestall adverse outcomes for both malnutrition and sarcopenia.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03245047 .

Prevalence and risk factors of sarcopenia without obesity and sarcopenic obesity among Chinese community older people in suburban area of Shanghai: A cross-sectional study

Objectives

The aim of the present study was to explore the prevalence and risk factors of sarcopenia without obesity (S) and sarcopenic obesity (SO) among community-dwelling older people in the Chongming District of Shanghai, China, according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019 Consensus as the diagnostic criteria of sarcopenia.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 1,407 subjects aged ≥65 years were included, where the mean age of the subjects was 71.91 ± 5.59 years and their mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.65 ± 3.32 kg/m². According to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019 Consensus, sarcopenia was defined as a low appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (≤7.0 kg/m² in males and ≤5.7 kg/m² in females), decreased handgrip strength (<28.0 kg in males and <18.0 kg in females), and/or low gait speed (<1.0 m/s) or poor 5-time chair stand test (5CST) (≥12s). The SO met both the diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia and obesity, meanwhile obesity was defined as an increased percentage of body fat (PBF) (≥25% in males and ≥35% in females). Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the risk factors of both S and SO.

Results

The prevalence of S and SO was 9.74% (M: 9.29%, F: 10.05%) and 9.95% (M: 13.94%, F: 7.14%). Lower BMI (OR = 0.136, 95% CI: 0.054-0.340, p < 0.001), lower hip circumference (OR = 0.858, 95% CI: 0.816-0.903, p < 0.001), farming (OR = 1.632, 95% CI: 1.053-2.530, p = 0.028), higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level (OR = 2.235, 95% CI: 1.484-3.367, p < 0.001), and a sleep duration <7 h (OR = 0.561, 95% CI: 0.346-0.909, p = 0.019) were risk factors for S. While aging (70-74 y, OR = 1.923, 95% CI: 1.122-3.295, p = 0.017; 75-79 y, OR = 3.185, 95% CI: 1.816-5.585, p < 0.001; ≥80 y, OR = 7.192, 95% CI: 4.133-12.513, p < 0.001), male (OR = 1.981, 95% CI: 1.351-2.904, p < 0.001), higher BMI (OR = 4.865, 95% CI: 1.089-21.736, p = 0.038), higher monocyte level (OR = 4.203, 95% CI: 1.340-13.181, p = 0.014), and a sleep duration >9 h (OR = 1.881, 95% CI: 1.117-3.166, p = 0.017) were risk factors for SO.

Conclusion

Our study showed the high prevalence of S and SO among community-dwelling older people in the Chongming District. The SO was more prevalent in males. Behavioral factors and lifestyle (such as farming and sleep duration) were associated more with the development of S, while age and male gender were associated more with the development of SO.

Daytime napping, comorbidity profiles, and the risk of sarcopenia in older individuals

Appropriate daytime napping is associated with the decreased risk of cerebro-cardiovascular diseases, but whether daytime napping affects sarcopenia remains to be explored. Our study plans to examine the associations between sarcopenia with daytime napping and comorbidity. The study population came from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011-2015. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify comorbidity profiles based on 14 doctor-diagnosed chronic diseases. Subsequently, smooth function and restricted cubic spline with three binomial regression models determined the associations between sarcopenia with daytime napping and comorbidity profiles. About 18.7% (2,894) and 5.4% (832) of 15,404 individuals were diagnosed with sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia. LCA delineated four classes as the best fit as follows: dominant heart diseases or risks (class 1, N = 2,203), dominant chronic lung diseases (class 2, N = 740), minimal or least diseases (class 3, N = 10,612, reference), and dominant digestive diseases and rheumatism (class 4, N = 1849). Compared with the reference group (class 3), the multivariate-adjusted ORs (95% CIs) of sarcopenia in model 3 were 0.72 (0.60-0.88) for class 1, 1.17 (0.92-1.51) for class 2, and 0.92 (0.77-1.09) for class 4. Smooth function and restricted cubic spline suggested that individuals who napped about 60 min seemingly had the lowest risk of sarcopenia. Individuals who napped for 1-59 min (adjusted OR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.68-0.94) and 60-119 min (adjusted OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.72-0.95) had the significantly lower risk of sarcopenia but not severe sarcopenia than those who did not nap. Insufficient and excessive daytime napping might be associated with the increased risk of sarcopenia, especially in individuals with a dominant chronic lung disease profile.

Nutritional and Nutrition-Related Biomarkers as Prognostic Factors of Sarcopenia, and Their Role in Disease Progression

Due to the multifactorial pathogenesis of sarcopenia, it is crucial to identify biomarkers that are risk factors for sarcopenia, and which therefore have a prognostic function. Aim: This narrative review aims to define a set of biomarkers associated with nutrition and sarcopenia. These biomarkers could contribute to individualized monitoring and enable preventive and therapeutic methods. Methods: Two electronic databases, PubMed and Google Scholar, were used. The search strategy was based on a controlled vocabulary (MeSH) and includes studies published up to February 2022. Discussion: Higher levels of serum uric acid are associated with higher handgrip strength and better muscle function in elderly people and, thus, may slow the progression of sarcopenia. Leptin, an adipokine secreted by adipose tissue, promotes the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which in turn lead to sarcopenia. This makes leptin a significant indirect biomarker for physical disability and sarcopenic obesity. Additionally, creatinine is a reliable biomarker for muscle mass status because of its easy accessibility and cost-effectiveness. Vitamin D status acts as a useful biomarker for predicting total mortality, hip fractures, early death, and the development of sarcopenia. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in dietary antioxidants and their effects on age-related losses of muscle mass and function. On the other hand, 3-Methylhistidine is a valuable biomarker for detecting increased muscle catabolism, as it is excreted through urine during muscle degradation. In addition, IGF-1, whose concentration in plasma is stimulated by food intake, is associated with the loss of skeletal muscle mass, which probably plays a crucial role in the progression of sarcopenia. Conclusions: Many nutritional biomarkers were found to be associated with sarcopenia, and can therefore be used as prognostic indexes and risk factors. Nutrition plays an important role in the prevention and management of sarcopenia, affecting muscle mass, strength, and function in elderly people.

The Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Sarcopenia Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose

To evaluate the relationship between depressive symptoms and sarcopenia among older adults.

Materials and Methods

This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 700 community-dwelling older persons enrolled in this study. Sarcopenia is defined according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 (AWGS 2019). The bioelectrical impedance analysis assessed muscle mass while a digital dynamometer quantified muscle strength. Furthermore, a 6-meter gait speed test measured physical performance. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-30) screened for depressive symptoms. Data collected include those of socio-demographic, lifestyle, and comorbidity.

Results

The sample comprised 700 participants (455 women) with a mean age of 70.4±6.8 years. 21.5% had sarcopenia, among them, 5.6% at severe stage, while depressive symptoms were present in 8.1% (57/700). After adjusting for the potential confounders of age, sex, marital status, living status, hypertension, body mass index, and physical activity, the depressive symptoms that were found were not associated with sarcopenia but, instead, low gait speed. However, severe sarcopenia significantly impacted the risk of depressive symptoms, particularly in females.

Conclusion

Depressive symptoms are not associated with sarcopenia, but severe sarcopenia increases the risk of depressive symptoms in females, according to updated AWGS 2019 criteria. Gait speed is independently associated with depressive symptoms. The finding highlights that older people with sarcopenia should be screened for depressive symptoms, especially females. Future studies should evaluate the value of gait speed interventions for depressive symptoms among older adults.

Cutoff Points for Grip Strength in Screening for Sarcopenia in Community-Dwelling Older-Adults: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Currently, different cutoff points for handgrip strength (HGS) have been used to estimate the prevalence of sarcopenia. In addition, the variability of equipment and protocols for this assessment can significantly influence the early detection of this important public health problem. Thus, this review aims to identify the different cutoff points for HGS adopted for older men and women in screening for sarcopenia.

OBJECTIVES

this review aims to identify the different cutoff points for HGS adopted for older men and women in screening for sarcopenia.

METHODS

In accordance with the PRISMA 2020 recommendations, which included published studies from the last 10 years, from 6 databases, in 3 different languages.

RESULTS

19.730 references were identified, of which 62 were included for the review. All references analyzed used algorithms and definitions of sarcopenia already known in the literature. Of the studies found, 16 chose to develop cutoff values for HGS based on their own population. The variation in cutoff points was evident when compared between gender and regions of the world.

CONCLUSION

It has become evident that there is a variability of normative values for HGS in sarcopenia screening. In addition, this systematic review shows the difference in the cutoff points used between the consensuses and those developed for each population.