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. 2022 Nov 22;22(1):889.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-03601-7.

Prevalence of sarcopenia under different diagnostic criteria and the changes in muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical function with age in Chinese old adults

Mengyu Cao #  1 , Junsong Lian #  2 , Xisheng Lin  1 , Jinwei Liu  1   3 , Chao Chen  1   3 , Shuaixuan Xu  4 , Shuang Ma  1   3 , Fang Wang  1 , Nihui Zhang  1 , Xiaolei Qi #  5 , Guogang Xu #  6 , Nan Peng #  7
Affiliations

Prevalence of sarcopenia under different diagnostic criteria and the changes in muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical function with age in Chinese old adults

Mengyu Cao et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: At present, there are several diagnostic criteria of sarcopenia were used in China, and the diagnostic criteria were not unified. This study aims to investigate the consistency between the latest sarcopenia diagnostic criteria Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia(AWGS 2019) and other common diagnostic criteria. The changes of muscle mass, muscle strength and physical function with age and their effects on the diagnosis of sarcopenia were also analyzed.

Methods: A total of 1009 men aged ≥60 years were enrolled from multiple communities. Skeletal muscle mass index, grip strength and 6 m gait speed were measured. The consistency of AWGS 2019 with other diagnostic criteria was analyzed and the trends of these three indicators were observed. The differences of muscle mass, muscle strength and function among different diagnostic criteria and age groups were evaluated. In addition, the change trends of these three indicators with age were observed.

Results: According to AWGS 2019 diagnostic criteria, the incidence of sarcopenia in male aged 60-69 years, 70-79 years and over 80 years was 1.5%, 9.6% and 33.1%, respectively. AWGS 2019 was highly consistent with other diagnostic criteria (Kappa = 0.66-0.80, P < 0.01), except the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health(FNIH) (Kappa = 0.32, P < 0.01). When AWGSA2019 diagnostic criteria are applied, the prevalence of decreased muscle strength (39.1%) and physical function (46.4%) was significantly higher than that of low muscle mass (35.9%) in the men over 80 years old. Muscle strength (P < 0.01) and function (P < 0.01) decreased at the same rate with age, both of which were more significant than muscle mass (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: AWGS 2019 was highly consistent with other criteria. Maintaining muscle mass should be the focus of attention before age 80, while improving muscle strength and function should be focused after age 80 to prevent disability.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Muscle mass; Muscle strength; Physical function; Sarcopenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of the prevalence of sarcopenia in different age groups under different diagnostic criteria. AWGS: Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia; EWGSOP: European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People; IWGS: the International Working Group on Sarcopenia; FNIH: the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Prevalence of LMM, LMS, and LPF in different age groups. Muscle mass, muscle strength and physical function were assessed by SMI, grip strength, and gait speed, respectively. LMM: low muscle mass; LMS: low muscle strength; LPF: low physical function
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Changes of muscle mass, muscle strength and physical function with age. A and B show that muscle mass (assessed by SMI) is not in parallel with muscle strength (assessed by grip strength) and function (assessed by gait speed), and the decline of muscle strength and function is more significant than the decline of muscle mass. C shows that muscle strength is in parallel with the decline of function. MM: muscle mass; MS: muscle strength; PF: physical function
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