Background: The COVID-19 outbreak caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus has been sustained in China

Objectives: To assess and quantify sarcopenia as a risk for falls among community-dwelling older people and nursing home older persons. Methods: Prospective cohort studies that evaluated the association between sarcopenia and falls in older adults were identified via a systematic literature search of Medline (via Ovid), PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane CENTRAL Library from database inception until October 15, 2018, in English and Chinese. Results: 10 studies (10,073 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. Among older adults, having sarcopenia was significantly associated with a higher risk of falls, compared to older adults without sarcopenia (pooled OR-odds ratio ¼ 1.52, 95% CI-confidence interval: 1.32e1.77, I 2 ¼ 39.1%). In addition, the results of subgroup analysis indicated that male participants with sarcopenia had a higher risk of falls than mixed gender participants with sarcopenia (pooled OR ¼ 1.72, 95% CI: 1.36e2.18 versus pooled OR ¼ 1.41, 95% CI: 1.16e1.70). Other subgroup analyses were conducted using different study follow-up periods (>1 year versus 1 year) (pooled OR 1.63, 95% CI: 1.38e1.92 versus 1.20, 95% CI: 0.87e1.65). In addition, community-dwelling older people with sarcopenia was significantly increase risk of fall, compared with non-sarcopenia (pooled OR ¼ 1.69, 95% CI: 1.43e2.00), whereas it was not found among nursing home residents (pooled OR ¼ 1.12, 95% CI: 0.84e1.51). Furthermore, sarcopenia definition subgroup analysis found that older adults with sarcopenia increase the risk of falls when using EWGSOP (pooled OR ¼ 1.43, 95% CI: 1.19e1.72), FNIH (pooled OR ¼ 1.82, 95% CI: 1.39e2.37), AWGS (pooled OR ¼ 7.68, 95% CI: 1.41e41.80), respectively. Conclusion: The present study found that sarcopenia is a risk factor for falls among community-dwelling older people, but not among nursing home older persons. Future research is needed to provide evidence for specific interventions aimed at treating sarcopenia and preventing falls among older adults dwelling in the community.

Background Previous cohort studies investigating the association between sarcopenic obesity (SO) and all-cause mortality among adult people have been inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to determine if SO is a predictor of all-cause mortality. Methods Prospective cohort studies that evaluated the association between SO and mortality in older people were identified via a systematic search of three electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library). A random-effects model was applied to combine the results. We considered the methods recommeded by consensuses (dual X-ray absorptiometry,bio-impedancemetry, anthropometric measures or CT scan) to assess sarcopenic obesity. Results Of the 603 studies identified through the systematic review, 23 (Participants: 50866) were included in the meta-analysis. The mean age ranged from 50 to 82.5 years.SO was significantly associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality among adult people (pooled HR = 1.21, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.10–1.32, p < 0.001, I 2 = 64.3%). Furthermore, the subgroup analysis of participants showed that SO was associated with all-cause mortality (pooled HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.06–1.23) among community-dwelling adult people; similarly, this association was found in hospitalized patients (pooled HR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.17–2.33). Moreover, the subgroup analysis demonstrated that SO was associated with all-cause mortality when using skeletal muscle mass (SMM) criteria, muscle strength criteria, and skeletal muscle index (SMI) criteria (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.01–1.23; HR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.05–1.33; and HR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.13–2.07, respectively). In addition, we analyzed SO on the basis of obesity definition and demonstrated that participants with a SO diagnosis based on waist circumference (WC) (HR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.09–1.40), body mass index (BMI) (HR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.04–1.59), or visceral fat area (HR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.83–3.53) have a significantly increase mortality risk compared with those without SO. Conclusion Based on our update of existing scientific researches, SO is a significant predictor of all-cause mortality among older people, particularly hospitalized patients. Therefore, it is important to diagnose SO and to treat the condition to reduce mortality rates among older people. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-019-1195-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundPrevious cohort studies investigating the association between sarcopenia and the risk of hospitalization have been inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to determine if sarcopenia is a predictor of hospitalization.MethodsProspective cohort studies that evaluated the association between sarcopenia and hospitalization in older people were identified via a systematic search of four electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Science Citation Index, and the Cochrane Library). A random-effect model was applied to combine the results according to the heterogeneity of the included studies.ResultsFive studies (2832 participants) were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled results demonstrated that older people with sarcopenia were at an increased risk of hospitalization (pooled hazards ratio [HR] = 1.57, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.26, 1.94, I2 = 4.5%, P = 0.000) compared to those without sarcopenia. Results of subgroup analyses showed that hospitalized patients with sarcopenia had a higher rate of hospitalization (HR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.41, 2.88, p = 0.000) versus patients without sarcopenia. A similar result was also found in community-dwelling older people with sarcopenia versus those without sarcopenia (HR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.05, 1.88, p = 0.023). In addition, the subgroup analysis for length of follow-up showed that studies with a follow-up period of 3 years or more (pooled HR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.19, 1.94, P = 0.001) reported a significantly higher rate of hospitalization among individuals with sarcopenia compared to those without sarcopenia. However, this association was not found in the studies with a follow-up period of less than 3 years (pooled HR = 1.76, 95% CI = 0.90, 3.44, P = 0.099).ConclusionsSarcopenia is a significant predictor of hospitalization among older individuals, and the association may not be significantly affected by the characteristics of the population or the definition of sarcopenia.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-018-0878-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.