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Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Mar;46(3):260-268.
doi: 10.1002/clc.23970. Epub 2023 Jan 16.

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

Ruzhao Chen  1   2 , Jiachen Xu  2 , Yuge Wang  2 , Benyue Jiang  2 , Xiao Xu  2 , Yang Lan  2 , Jiang Wang  2 , Xiufang Lin  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

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

Ruzhao Chen et al. Clin Cardiol. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: heart failure; meta-analysis; sarcopenia; systematic review; updated.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The flowchart for study screening
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of sarcopenia in patients with heart failure
Figure 3
Figure 3
Subgroup analyses of clinical outcome
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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