The Association Between Estimated Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Sarcopenic Obesity in Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Abstract

Abstracts PURPOSE This study aimed to examine the association between estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (eCRF) and sarcopenic obesity in Korean middle-aged and older adults. METHODS This study used the data from the 2008–2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey involving 8,252 Korean adults aged ≥50 years (56.6% women). Participants were classified into normal, sarcopenia, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity groups based on the presence of sarcopenia and/or obesity phenotypes. eCRF was assessed using sex-specific algorithms and classified as low (lowest 25%), middle (middle 50%), and high (highest 25%) categories. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the risk of sarcopenic obesity according to eCRF categories. RESULTS The middle and low eCRF groups had a significantly higher risk of sarcopenia (OR=1.688, 95% CI=1.438–1.981 and OR=2.877, 95% CI=2.366–3.498; respectively) than the high eCRF group (OR=1), a significantly higher risk of obesity (OR=1.810, 95% CI=1.533–2.137 and OR=5.103, 95% CI=4.234–6.151; respectively) than the high eCRF group (OR=1), and a significantly higher risk of sarcopenic obesity (OR=2.852, 95% CI=2.371–3.429 and OR=12.008, 95% CI=9.866–14.616; respectively) than the high eCRF group (OR=1). The risks of sarcopenia, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity in the middle and low eCRF groups remained statistically significant after adjusting for all the measured covariates. CONCLUSION The results suggest that eCRF is an independent predictor of sarcopenic obesity in Korean middle-aged and older adults, implying the importance of promotion of CRF as a preventive measure against sarcopenic obesity.

Keywords

• physical activity
• cardiorespiratory fitness
• sarcopenia
• obesity
• sarcopenic obesity