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The epidemiology of sarcopenia

The epidemiology of sarcopenia
The epidemiology of sarcopenia
The aim of this review is to describe the epidemiology of sarcopenia, specifically prevalence, health outcomes, and factors across the life course that have been linked to its development. Sarcopenia definitions involve a range of measures (muscle mass, strength, and physical performance), which tend to decline with age, and hence sarcopenia becomes increasingly prevalent with age. Less is known about prevalence in older people in hospital and care homes, although it is likely to be higher than in community settings. The range of measures used, and the cutpoints suggested for each, presents a challenge for comparing prevalence estimates between studies. The importance of sarcopenia is highlighted by the range of adverse health outcomes that strength and physical performance (and to a lesser extent, muscle mass) have been linked to. This is shown most strikingly by the finding of increased all-cause mortality rates among those with weaker grip strength and slower gait speed. A life course approach broadens the window for our understanding of the etiology of sarcopenia and hence the potential intervention. An example is physical activity, with increased levels across midadulthood appearing to increase muscle mass and strength in early old age. Epidemiologic studies will continue to make an important contribution to our understanding of sarcopenia and possible avenues for intervention and prevention
sarcopenia, epidemiology, muscle strength, physical performance
1094-6950
461-466
Dodds, R.M.
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Roberts, H.C.
5ea688b1-ef7a-4173-9da0-26290e18f253
Cooper, C.
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Sayer, A.A.
fb4c2053-6d51-4fc1-9489-c3cb431b0ffb
Dodds, R.M.
2f7c0dea-4cd7-4f91-9fd2-a5ff20706870
Roberts, H.C.
5ea688b1-ef7a-4173-9da0-26290e18f253
Cooper, C.
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Sayer, A.A.
fb4c2053-6d51-4fc1-9489-c3cb431b0ffb

Dodds, R.M., Roberts, H.C., Cooper, C. and Sayer, A.A. (2015) The epidemiology of sarcopenia. Journal of Clinical Densitometry, 18 (4), 461-466. (doi:10.1016/j.jocd.2015.04.012). (PMID:26073423)

Record type: Article

Abstract

The aim of this review is to describe the epidemiology of sarcopenia, specifically prevalence, health outcomes, and factors across the life course that have been linked to its development. Sarcopenia definitions involve a range of measures (muscle mass, strength, and physical performance), which tend to decline with age, and hence sarcopenia becomes increasingly prevalent with age. Less is known about prevalence in older people in hospital and care homes, although it is likely to be higher than in community settings. The range of measures used, and the cutpoints suggested for each, presents a challenge for comparing prevalence estimates between studies. The importance of sarcopenia is highlighted by the range of adverse health outcomes that strength and physical performance (and to a lesser extent, muscle mass) have been linked to. This is shown most strikingly by the finding of increased all-cause mortality rates among those with weaker grip strength and slower gait speed. A life course approach broadens the window for our understanding of the etiology of sarcopenia and hence the potential intervention. An example is physical activity, with increased levels across midadulthood appearing to increase muscle mass and strength in early old age. Epidemiologic studies will continue to make an important contribution to our understanding of sarcopenia and possible avenues for intervention and prevention

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Accepted/In Press date: 29 April 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 June 2015
Published date: October 2015
Keywords: sarcopenia, epidemiology, muscle strength, physical performance
Organisations: MRC Life-Course Epidemiology Unit

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 379200
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/379200
ISSN: 1094-6950
PURE UUID: 5a87f6a8-c85a-482a-8c61-610f44b65f98
ORCID for R.M. Dodds: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4968-7678
ORCID for H.C. Roberts: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5291-1880
ORCID for C. Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709

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Date deposited: 24 Jul 2015 09:32
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:56

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Contributors

Author: R.M. Dodds ORCID iD
Author: H.C. Roberts ORCID iD
Author: C. Cooper ORCID iD
Author: A.A. Sayer

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