Methods of physical rehabilitation of elderly people for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia

Abstract

The aim of the review is to analyze the prevalence of sarcopenia in the elderly age group, the causes of its occurrence, and to present modern methods of prevention and physical rehabilitation. The study focuses on the relationship between exercise, training effects and physiological mechanisms, as well as the safety of various types of strength, anaerobic and multimodal training, which have a positive impact during the prevention and rehabilitation treatment of sarcopenia. Literature reviews, meta-analyses, and original studies are included that focus on older people in all settings, using validated assessment tools and methods. A literature search was conducted in four electronic databases – PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Springer, for the period from 2012 to June 30, 2022. There were no restrictions on the language bias of the publication. Search strategy. The keywords used to define the terms of participation in the review are “older/advanced age”, “sarcopenia” and “sarcopenic obesity”. Articles were included if they met the following criteria – cohorts with mean or median age ≥ 60 years and any of the following definitions of sarcopenia: European Working Group on Sarcopenia in the Elderly (EWGSOP), Asian Working Group on Sarcopenia (AWGS), International Working Group on Sarcopenia (IWGS). To ensure comparability of interventions, the review included studies that were conducted for at least 8 weeks, and the distribution of patients by study design was randomized. Also, articles involving hospitalized patients are excluded.

Keywords

• sarcopenia
• physical activity
• rehabilitation
• sarcopenic obesity
• older adult
• resistance training
• aerobic exercise
• exercise therapy
• systematic review