Evaluation of Sarcopenia in Elderly Women of China

Abstract

Background: Sarcopenia is a continuous process defined as a decline in both muscle mass and strength, which is a common phenomenon among elders and has been linked to multiple adverse clinical consequences. Varieties of factors contribute to the occurrence of sarcopenia. In the present study, we aim to observe the prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly women of China, and examine the effects of aging on the body composition change in China older women. Methods: 177 participants included 35.6% young women and 44.4% elderly women took part in this study between February 2015 and August 2015. All volunteers took dual energy X-ray absorptiometry tests for body composition assessment and physical-performance tests for physical function assessment. Results: Elderly women had greater total fat mass (25.2 ± 6.9 vs 22.5 ± 5.9, P = 0.008) and percentage fat mass (45.1 ± 7.3 vs 41.7 ± 5.5, P < 0.001) than those in the young women. However, appendicular lean mass (ALM) and ALM/Height2 did not show statistical significance between young and older women. In spite of an equal muscle mass between two groups, the muscle strength (hand-grip strength, HGS) and physical function decline were more rapidly developed in elderly women, compared with their young counterparts. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that both aging and menopause contributes to the decline of muscle strength and physical function rather primarily than the loss of muscle mass in the process of sarcopenia in Chinese older women. Hand-grip strength criteria is more sensitive to diagnose sarcopenia in elderly women of China.

Keywords

• sarcopenia
• elderly women
• muscle mass
• muscle strength
• physical function