Sarcopenic Obesity: Prevalence and Association With Metabolic Syndrome in the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging (KLoSHA)

TLDR

The study examined how common sarcopenic obesity is among Korean seniors and its link to metabolic syndrome. Researchers assessed 565 Korean adults aged 65+ using body composition measures, defining sarcopenia by low appendicular muscle mass relative to height or weight and obesity by visceral fat area ≥100 cm². Sarcopenic obesity defined by ASM/Wt was present in 35.1% of men and 48.1% of women, and was associated with an 8.28‑fold higher risk of metabolic syndrome compared with obesity or sarcopenia alone.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE We investigated the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity (SO) and its relationship with metabolic syndrome in a community-based elderly cohort in Korea. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In this study, 287 men and 278 women aged 65 or older were recruited. Sarcopenia was defined as the appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) divided by height squared (Ht2) (kg/m2) or by weight (Wt) (%) of <1 SD below the sex-specific mean for young adults. Obesity was defined as a visceral fat area ≥100 cm2. RESULTS The prevalence of SO was 16.7% in men and 5.7% in women with sarcopenia defined by ASM/Ht2; however, it was 35.1% in men and 48.1% in women by ASM/Wt. Using ASM/Wt, the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance of subjects with SO was higher and they were at higher risk for metabolic syndrome (odds ratio [OR] 8.28 [95% CI 4.45–15.40]) than the obese (5.51 [2.81–10.80]) or sarcopenic group (2.64 [1.08–6.44]). CONCLUSIONS SO defined by ASM/Wt was more closely associated with metabolic syndrome than either sarcopenia or obesity alone.