J Korean Med Sci.  2013 Jul;28(7):1041-1047. 10.3346/jkms.2013.28.7.1041.

Sarcopenia and Obesity: Gender-Different Relationship with Functional Limitation in Older Persons

• Kim JH
• Choi SH
• Lim S
• Yoon JW
• Kang SM
• Kim KW
• Lim JY
• Cho NH
• Jang HC

• KMID: 1777500
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2013.28.7.1041

Abstract

Age-related body composition changes such as sarcopenia and obesity affect functional decline in the elderly. We investigated the relationship between body composition parameters and functional limitation in older Korean adults. We enrolled 242 men and 231 women aged > or = 65 yr from the Korean elderly cohort. We used appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) divided by height2 (ASM/Ht2) and ASM divided by weight (ASM/Wt). The isokinetic strength of knee extensor muscles were measured using an isokinetic device. Functional limitations were assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score less than nine. Men within the bottom tertile of ASM/Ht2 confer an increased risk for functional limitation compared with those within the top tertile (OR, 6.24; 95% CI, 1.78-22.0). However, in women, subjects within the lowest ASM/Wt tertile had a higher risk compared with those within the highest tertile instead of ASM/Ht2 (OR, 7.60; 95% CI, 2.25-25.7). Leg muscle strength remained the strong measure even after controlling for muscle mass only in women. Only large waist circumference was positively associated with functional limitation only in women. We might consider a different muscle index to assess functional limitation according to the gender.

Keyword

Sarcopenia; Obesity; Functional Limitation

MeSH Terms

Aged
Aging
*Body Composition
Body Mass Index
Female
Humans
Knee/*physiology
Male
Muscle Strength/*physiology
Muscle, Skeletal/physiology
Obesity/*epidemiology/metabolism
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Sarcopenia/*epidemiology/metabolism
Sex Factors
Waist Circumference

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) scores according to body mass index (≤ 22.7, 22.8-25.3, > 25.3 in men; ≤ 23.1, 23.2-25.8, > 25.8 in women) and waist circumference (WC) index (≤ 22.7, 22.8-25.3, > 25.3 in men; ≤ 23.1, 23.1-25.8, > 25.8 in women ) index (≤ 85.2, 85.3-91.5, > 91.5 in men; ≤ 81.5, 81.6-90.1, > 90.1 in women) tertiles (P for trend < 0.05, BMI in men and WC in women).

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