Gender-specific risk factors for incident sarcopenia: 8-year follow-up of the English longitudinal study of ageing

Abstract

BackgroundThe aetiology of age-related sarcopenia is not known.ObjectivesTo investigate if risk of developing sarcopenia differs by gender and to identify gender-specific risk factors of incident sarcopenia in a large population-based cohort of older English adults.MethodsThe sample (n=3404; age 63.4 (SD 7.7) years; 54.1% women) comprised older community-dwelling adults recruited from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Sarcopenia was defined as handgrip <26 kg in men and <16 kg in women. Handgrip strength was assessed at baseline (2004/2005) and repeated at follow-up (2012/2013). Analysed risk factors included baseline anthropometric measures, smoking, vigorous and moderate physical activity, depressive symptoms, chronic illnesses and wealth. After excluding participants with sarcopenia at baseline, multivariable logistic regressions were used to explore baseline risk factors for incident sarcopenia.ResultsDuring 8-year follow-up, 208 and 287 cases of sarcopenia were identified in men (n=1564) and women (n=1840), respectively. Women were at 20% (age adjusted OR=1.20, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.47) higher risk of developing sarcopenia than men. The inverse association between physical activity and sarcopenia risk was observed at moderate (OR=0.44, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.67) and vigorous (0.53, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.82) intensities in men and only vigorous (OR=0.44, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.68) intensity in women. Social factors, such as wealth, and chronic health conditions appeared to be more strongly associated with sarcopenia in men.ConclusionWomen are at higher risk of developing incident sarcopenia than men, and this is likely explained by a range of gender-specific risk factors.

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Sarcopenia among Older Adults in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…Although the reason why no significant associations were found in men in our study is unknown, it is possible that women in our study were consuming fruits that are more nutritious than men as one study showed that the consumption of fruits and vegetables among women may be motivated more by the greater knowledge on the nutritional benefits of fruits or vegetables than men [42]. Additionally, the etiology of sarcopenia may differ between men and women mainly due to differences in hormone profiles [43][44][45]. Furthermore, one study found that muscle of older women can display higher heterogeneity in myofiber size and phenotype composition compared to older men [46].…”

Clinical utility of the Liver Frailty Index for predicting muscle atrophy in chronic liver disease patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Yang et al reported that being female was a risk factor for sarcopenia in a large population-based cohort study. 28 Ohashi et al also reported that an independent predictive factor for presarcopenia was being female among patients with CLD. 29 A possible reason why women are more likely to have muscle atrophy than men is the physical activity of women, as women is known to engage in fewer physical activities than men.…”

“…Yang et al . reported that being female was a risk factor for sarcopenia in a large population‐based cohort study . Ohashi et al .…”

Sarcopenia Is Associated with the Presence of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Zhejiang Province, China: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.

“…When it comes to muscle strength, it indicated that low HGS was associated with an increased NAFLD prevalence in men only. Yang et al found that some metabolic syndromes may put men more prone to have sarcopenia, likely due to the low levels of physical activity associated with such conditions [21]. A small cross-sectional study from Japan revealed that the SMI had a negative association with hepatic steatosis only in men with type 2 diabetes [22].…”