The prevalence of sarcopenia and related factors in a community-dwelling elders Thai population

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia is one of common problems among elderly worldwide. OBJECTIVES: Sarcopenia is one of common problems among elderly worldwide. To determine the prevalence of sarcopenia and related factors in community-dwelling elders Thai population. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed in 243 subjects aged over 60 years. All participants were evaluated for handgrip strength by dynamometer and for gait speed by walking a 6-m distance. The muscle mass for subjects who had abnormal grip strength and/or gait speed was evaluated by bioimpedance analysis (BIA). The prevalence of sarcopenia was calculated and factors related to sarcopenia were also analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age was 69.7 ± 6.9 years with three-fourths female participants. Approximate 60% of subjects were overweight. There were 74 participants (30.5%, (95% CI: 25.0%–36.5%)) with abnormal grip strength; gait speed and muscle mass. Males had more prevalence than females (33.9% vs. 29.3% respectively). There is higher prevalence with increasing age among both genders (17.9%, 41.4% and 80.0% in young old, middle old, and the very old groups respectively in male; and 11.5%, 49.1%, and 65.0% in female). After using multivariate analysis, age, body mass index (BMI), and quadriceps strengths were significantly related to sarcopenia with the adjusted odds ratio of 15.47 (95% CI: 4.93, 48.54), 12.84 (95% CI: 3.85, 42.82) and 3.77 (95% CI: 1.70, 8.37) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Thirty percent of the community-based elderly experienced sarcopenia. As the prevalence is high, the screening for sarcopenia should be performed in community-dwelling elders especially older age, underweight subjects and lower quadriceps strength.