Low muscle mass and mortality risk later in life: A 10-year follow-up study

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the impact of low muscle mass (MM) assessed by calf circumference (CC), arm circumference (AC), arm muscle circumference (AMC), and corrected arm muscle circumference (CAMC)—on mortality risk later in life. We aimed to investigate the impact of low MM assessed by CC, AC, AMC and, CAMC on all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality risk. METHODS: Data came from 418 older adults who participated in a 10-year follow-up prospective cohort study. Low MM was defined as a CC < 33 cm for women and < 34 cm for men and by the lowest tertile of AC, AMC, and CAMC stratified by sex. The log rank test, Kaplan-Meier curves, and Cox regression were used. RESULTS: There were 147 deaths: 49 related to CVD and 22 to cancer. A small CC (HR = 1.57, 95% CI, 1.12–2.20), AMC (HR = 1.61, 95% CI, 1.13–2.30) and CAMC (HR = 1.45, 95% CI, 1.03–2.04) were associated with all-cause mortality. A small CAMC was a protective factor for CVD mortality (HR = 0.46, 95% CI, 0.22–0.98). In the Kaplan-Meier analysis, older adults with LMM presented low all-cause mortality survival, with AC (p < 0.05), AMC (p < 0.005), CAMC (p < 0.002), and CC (p < 0.001). Cancer mortality was associated with low CAMC (p < 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: Low MM assessed by anthropometric measures (AC, AMC, CAMC and CC) increased the all-cause mortality risk. A small CAMC decreased the CVD mortality.