Association between serum triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and sarcopenia among elderly patients with diabetes: a secondary data analysis of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies investigating the association between the serum triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio and the occurrence of sarcopenia in different populations have yielded inconsistent results. This study aimed to investigate the potential association between TG/HDL-C ratio and sarcopenia among elderly Chinese patients with diabetes. DESIGN: A secondary data analysis. SETTING: This was a secondary analysis of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. PARTICIPANTS: In this study, 752 elderly individuals with diabetes were included after excluding individuals aged <60 years old, those with missing data for the assessment of sarcopenia and missing measurements for plasma glucose or glycated haemoglobin. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary information included TG/HDL-C ratio, muscle strength, physical performance, muscle mass and covariables. The association between TG/HDL-C ratio and sarcopenia was assessed using ordinal logistic regression and linear regression analysis. RESULTS: On multivariate ordinal logistic regression, among male patients, compared with those with the lowest quartile of TG/HDL-C ratio (≤1.41), those with the highest quartile (>4.71) had a significantly lower risk of more severe sarcopenia (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.54). Similarly, among female patients, compared with those with the lowest quartile of TG/HDL-C ratio (≤2.07), those with the highest quartile (>5.61) had a significantly lower risk of more severe sarcopenia (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.44). In multivariate linear regression, male patients with the highest quartile of TG/HDL-C ratio (β=0.36, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.51) had higher muscle mass than those with the lowest quartile. Similarly, female patients with the highest quartile of TG/HDL-C ratio (β=0.31, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.51) had higher muscle mass than those with the lowest quartile. CONCLUSIONS: There was a negative association between TG/HDL-C ratio categorised by quartile and sarcopenia, which indicates that a higher TG/HDL-C ratio may be related to better muscle status.