Prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in older German men using recognized definitions: high accordance but low overlap!

The relevance of sarcopenia and sarcopenic Obesity (SO) is rising in our aging societies. Applying recognized definitions to 965 community-dwelling Bavarian men 70 years+ resulted in a prevalence for sarcopenia between 3.7 and 4.9 and between 2.1 and 4.1% for SO. Despite this high consistency, the overlap between the definitions/approaches was <50%.

Introduction: The relevance of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity (SO) is rising steadily in the aging societies of most developed nations. However, different definitions, components, and cutoff points hinder the evaluation of the prevalence of sarcopenia and SO. The purpose of this contribution was to determine the prevalence of sarcopenia and SO in a cohort of community-dwelling German men 70+ applying established sarcopenia (European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People, Foundation National Institute of Health, International Working Group on Sarcopenia) and obesity definitions. Further, we addressed the overlap between the definitions.

Methods: Altogether, 965 community-dwelling men 70 years and older living in Northern Bavaria, Germany, were assessed during the screening phase of the Franconian Sarcopenic Obesity project. Segmental multi-frequency bio-impedance analysis (BIA) was applied to determine weight and body composition.

Results: Applying the definitions of EWGSOP, IWGS, and FNIH, 4.9, 3.8, and 3.7% of the total cohort were classified as sarcopenic, respectively. When further applying body fat to diagnose obesity, SO prevalence in the total cohort ranged from 4.1% (EWGSOP + body fat >25%) to 2.1% (IWGS + body fat >30%). Despite the apparently high consistency of the approaches with respect to prevalence, the overlap in individual sarcopenia diagnosis between the sarcopenia definitions was rather low (<50%).

Conclusion: The prevalence of sarcopenia and SO in community-dwelling German men 70 years+ is relatively low (<5%) independently of the definition used. However, consistency of individual sarcopenia diagnosis varies considerably between the three definitions. Since sarcopenia is now recognized as an independent condition by the International Classification of Diseases, a mandatory definition must be stated.

Trial registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT2857660.