Factors associated with sarcopenia and undernutrition in older adults.

AIM: The aim of this study was to describe sarcopenia frequency, to identify the factors associated with sarcopenia and undernutrition, and to evaluate their coexistence.

METHODS: A total of 1500 Portuguese older adults aged ≥65 years from the Nutrition UP 65 study were evaluated using a cross-sectional analysis. Sarcopenia was defined according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP)2 guidelines (2018), using anthropometric measures. Undernutrition status was evaluated by Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form.

RESULTS: Sarcopenia frequency was 4.4% (n = 66). Sarcopenia coexists with undernutrition or undernutrition risk in 1.5% of this sample. In the multivariate analysis, sarcopenia was directly associated with age >75 years (odds ratio (OR): 2.14; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19-3.84), undernutrition or undernutrition risk (OR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.01-3.43) and inversely associated with male gender (OR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.29-0.97), overweight (OR: 0.24; 95% CI: 0.13-0.42) or obesity (OR: 0.02; 95% CI: 0.01-0.09) and moderate alcohol consumption (OR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.24-0.90). Undernutrition or undernutrition risk was associated with a poor or very poor self-perception of health status (OR: 3.53; 95% CI: 2.32-5.37), a low physical activity level (OR: 1.74; 95% CI: 1.23-2.47), sarcopenia (OR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.02-3.36), and being overweight (OR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.27-0.59) or obese (OR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.28-0.65).

CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the older adults presented low muscle strength (probable sarcopenia), but only a small number had concomitantly low muscle quantity or quality (sarcopenia). Coexistence between these conditions is low which reinforces the need to assess them both individually during geriatric assessment.