Difficulties with physical function associated with obesity, sarcopenia, and sarcopenic-obesity in community-dwelling elderly women: the EPIDOS (EPIDemiologie de l'OSteoporose) Study

BACKGROUND: In elders, decreased muscle mass (sarcopenia) and increased fat mass (obesity) may contribute to difficulties with physical function. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to examine the association of obesity, sarcopenia, and their combination (sarcopenic-obesity) with self-reported difficulties...

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Published in:The American journal of clinical nutrition 2009-06, Vol.89 (6), p.1895-1900
Main Authors: Rolland, Yves, Lauwers-Cances, Valérie, Cristini, Christelle, van Kan, Gabor Abellan, Janssen, Ian, Morley, John E, Vellas, Bruno
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of Daily Living
Adipose Tissue - physiology
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
anthropometric measurements
Biological and medical sciences
body composition
cohort studies
elderly
elderly nutrition
EPIDemiologie de l'OSteoporose Study
Epidemiology
Feeding. Feeding behavior
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
lifestyle
Mobility Limitation
Muscle Strength - physiology
Muscle, Skeletal - physiology
Muscular Atrophy - complications
Muscular Atrophy - physiopathology
Nutrition
Obesity
Obesity - complications
Obesity - physiopathology
Odds Ratio
Older people
physical activity
physical fitness
Physical Fitness - physiology
sarcopenia
sarcopenic-obesity
skeletal muscle
Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
Women
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Summary:BACKGROUND: In elders, decreased muscle mass (sarcopenia) and increased fat mass (obesity) may contribute to difficulties with physical function. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to examine the association of obesity, sarcopenia, and their combination (sarcopenic-obesity) with self-reported difficulties performing physical function in a cohort of community-dwelling elderly women. DESIGN: We assessed muscle and fat mass by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and self-reported difficulties with physical function in 1308 healthy women aged greater-than-or-equal75 y. Sarcopenia was defined as an appendicular skeletal muscle mass [less-than or equal to]2 SD below the mean in a young female reference group. Obesity was defined as a percentage body fat above the 60th percentile. Thirty-six sarcopenic-obese, 90 purely sarcopenic, 435 purely obese, and 747 women with a healthy body composition were studied. Anthropometric measures, health status, lifestyle habits, and self-reported difficulties with 6 different physical functions were obtained. RESULTS: Compared with women with a healthy body composition and after adjustment for confounders, purely sarcopenic women had no increased odds of having difficulties for all of the physical functions assessed, purely obese women had a 44-79% higher odds of having difficulties with most of the physical functions assessed (P < 0.05), and sarcopenic-obese women had a 2.60 higher odds of having difficulty climbing stairs and a 2.35 higher odds of having difficulty going down stairs (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Sarcopenia is not associated with physical difficulties in the absence of obesity. However, in the presence of obesity, sarcopenia tends to add difficulty for some physical functions.
ISSN:0002-9165
1938-3207
DOI:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26950