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Email:
phillis@mcmaster.ca
Project ID:
160608
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Project Summary
Sarcopenia is the age-related decrease in muscle mass, muscle strength and/or physical function that is associated with poor health outcomes in the aging population. Different combinations and measures of muscle and functional variables are being used to define sarcopenia. However, it is currently unknown which definition best reflects the health risks associated with decreased muscle mass and strength. This project aims to provide an estimate of the prevalence of sarcopenia in Canadians for the first time and evaluate current sarcopenia definitions (using their recommended cut points) for their association with disability, falls, fractures, selfreported health care use, and informal and formal care receiving. The potential interaction of obesity with sarcopenia will also be investigated.
Project Findings
Definitions for sarcopenia differ in terms of which muscle-related variables are included (i.e., muscle mass, muscle strength, muscle function), how the muscle-related variables are measured, and which cut-offs are used for each variable. This project assessed the impact of different methods of defining sarcopenia on the proportion of people with sarcopenia, agreement between definitions of sarcopenia, and the strength of the association between sarcopenia and relevant health outcomes such as falls and disability.
We found that different definitions of sarcopenia had poor agreement and tended to identify different people as sarcopenic. Sarcopenia definitions including lean mass as an approximate measure of muscle mass performed poorly for identifying people at risk for falling. However, sarcopenia definitions including both grip strength and gait speed accurately identified those at the greatest risk of developing disability.
Our research supports the most recent definition of sarcopenia by the Sarcopenia Definitions and Outcomes Consortium which includes measures of grip strength and gait speed but does not include lean mass as a substitute measure for muscle mass. However, given the poor agreement between the ways grip strength is defined in this definition, we encourage the Sarcopenia Definitions and Outcomes Consortium to include only a single method of measuring grip strength.