Prevalence and Factors Related to Sarcopenic Obesity among Community-dwelling Elderly Women

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to identify prevalence and identify factors related to sarcopenic obesity among community-dwelling elderly women. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of the prospective cohort study. Our analysis included 338 elderly women (≥65 years old) in South Korea as a part of the Community-dwelling Older Adult Health Cohort (COHC) Study (2014-2015). Sarcopenic obesity was defined as the Asian Working Group of Sarcopenia recommendations and upper two quintiles for percentage body fat. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors related to sarcopenic obesity including chronic diseases, medications, stress, fatigue, depression, exercise, level of proteins on body compositions, smoking, and alcohol use. RESULTS: The prevalence of sarcopenic obesity was 6.2%. A lower protein on body compositions (OR 0.017, 95% CI 0.003-0.081, p<.001), a larger number of medications (OR 2.104, 95% CI 1.404-3.152, p<.001), and a higher level of fatigue (OR 1.255, 95% CI 1.023-1.541, p=.030) were related factors of sarcopenic obesity. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that nutritional interventions focusing on protein intakes should be needed to prevent sarcopenic obesity among the elderly women. Polypharmacy issue for preventing adverse outcomes and level of fatigue as indicator for early identification are also considered to develop community prevention programs.