Factors Associated with Sarcopenia among Elderly Individuals Residing in Community and Nursing Home Settings: A Systematic Review with a Meta-Analysis.

Jia Liu, Yuezhi Zhu, Jen Kit Tan, Azera Hasra Ismail, Roszita Ibrahim, Nor Haty Hassan

Journal: Nutrients 2023;15(20):4335

PMID: 37892411

Plain Language Summary

Sarcopenia is the gradual decline in muscle mass that impacts physical function, quality of life and longevity in elderly people. Sarcopenia may have an association with old age, sedentary lifestyle, nutritional deficiencies, smoking, diabetes, cognitive impairment, heart diseases, and osteoarthritis. Taking measures to reduce the impact of these factors may help prevent the incidence of sarcopenia. This systematic review and meta-analysis included seventy studies to identify the risk factors associated with sarcopenia in elderly people in both community settings and nursing homes. The prevalence of sarcopenia ranges from 5.2% to 73.7% depending on the setting, with nursing homes having a higher prevalence than community settings. This could be due to the poor conditions and lack of movement in nursing homes compared to the elderly people in community settings. Men may be more prone to sarcopenia whereas age may not be a contributing factor to sarcopenia in elderly people as per the results of this study. Other factors that exhibited a correlation are body mass index, nutritional status, smoking status, physical activity level, and osteoarthritis. Healthcare professionals can use the results of this study to understand the potential risk factors of sarcopenia in elderly people in nursing homes and community settings. Having this understanding can assist healthcare professionals in implementing preventive intervention strategies. Further robust long-term studies are required to evaluate the causal relationship of the risk factors in the development of sarcopenia in elderly people.

Abstract

To investigate the factors associated with sarcopenia in elderly individuals residing in nursing homes and community settings, we conducted a systematic search of databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane, up to May 2023. We incorporated a total of 70 studies into our analysis. Our findings revealed that the prevalence of sarcopenia in nursing homes ranged from 25% to 73.7%, while in community settings, it varied from 5.2% to 62.7%. The factors associated with sarcopenia in both nursing homes and community settings included male gender, BMI, malnutrition, and osteoarthritis. In community settings, these factors comprised age, poor nutrition status, small calf circumference, smoking, physical inactivity, cognitive impairment, diabetes, depression and heart disease. Currently, both the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) and the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) standards are widely utilized in nursing homes and community settings, with the EWGSOP standard being more applicable to nursing homes. Identifying factors associated with sarcopenia is of paramount significance, particularly considering that some of them can be modified and managed. Further research is warranted to investigate the impact of preventive measures on these factors in the management of sarcopenia among elderly individuals residing in nursing homes and community settings.

Address: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia.; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia.; Department of Public Health Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia.

DOI: 10.3390/nu15204335