Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Mar;18(3):284-90.
doi: 10.1007/s12603-013-0413-0.

Prevalence and associated factors of sarcopenia among elderly in Brazil: findings from the SABE study

T da Silva Alexandre  1 , Y A de Oliveira Duarte, J L Ferreira Santos, R Wong, M L Lebrão
Affiliations

Prevalence and associated factors of sarcopenia among elderly in Brazil: findings from the SABE study

T da Silva Alexandre et al. J Nutr Health Aging. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence and factors associated with sarcopenia in older residents in São Paulo, Brazil.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: São Paulo, Brazil.

Participants: 1,149 older individuals from the second wave of the Saúde, Bem-Estar e Envelhecimento (SABE) study from 2006.

Measurements: The definition of sarcopenia was based on the consensus of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP), which include three components: low muscle mass, assessed by a skeletal muscle mass index of ≤8.90 kg/m2 for men and ≤6.37 kg/m2 for women; low muscle strength, assessed by handgrip strength <30 kg for men and <20 kg for women; and low physical performance, assessed by gait speed <0.8 m/s. Diagnosis of sarcopenia required presence of low muscle mass plus low muscle strength or low physical performance. Socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics, medical conditions and nutritional status were considered as independent variables to determine the associated factors using a logistic regression model.

Results: The prevalence of sarcopenia was 16.1% in women and 14.4% in men. Advanced age with a dose response effect, cognitive impairment, lower income, smoking, undernutrition and risk for undernutrition (p<0.05) were factors associated with sarcopenia.

Conclusions: The EWGSOP algorithm is useful to define sarcopenia. The prevalence of sarcopenia in the Brazilian elderly population is high and several associated factors show that this syndrome is affected by multiple domains. No differences were observed by gender in any age groups.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People Algorithm
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Janssen I, Heymsfield SB, Ross R. Low relative skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) in older persons is associated with functional impairment and physical disability. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002;50:889–896. 10.1046/j.1532-5415.2002.50216.x PubMed PMID: 12028177. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Newman AB, Kupelian V, Visser M, et al. Sarcopenia: Alternative definitions and associations with lower extremity function. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2003;51:1602–1609. 10.1046/j.1532-5415.2003.51534.x PubMed PMID: 14687390. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Delmonico MJ, Harris TB, Lee JS, et al. Alternative definitions of sarcopenia, lower extremity performance, and functional impairment with aging in older men and women. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;55:769–774. 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01140.x PubMed PMID: 17493199. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Landi F, Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Liperoti R, et al. Sarcopenia and mortality risk in frail older persons aged 80 years and older: results from ilSIRENTE Study. Age Ageing. 2013;42(2):203–209. 10.1093/ageing/afs194 PubMed PMID: 23321202. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, et al. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age Ageing. 2010;39:412–413. 10.1093/ageing/afq034 PubMed PMCID 2886201; PMID 20392703. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources