Associations between Sarcopenic Obesity and Cognitive Impairment in Elderly Chinese Community-Dwelling Individuals

Introduction

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity (SO) and the association between cognitive impairment and SO in a cohort of elderly Chinese community-dwelling individuals.

Methods

A total of 948 elderly Chinese community-dwelling individuals aged 60–92 years were recruited. The participants were categorized into the following four groups according to their sarcopenia and obesity status: sarcopenic obese, sarcopenic, obese and non-sarcopenic, and non-obese group. Sarcopenia was defined as appendicular skeletal muscle index of <7.0 kg/m² in men and <5.7 kg/m² in women; obesity was defined as values greater than the upper two quintiles for body fat percentage stratified by gender of the study population; cognitive impairment was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination and defined as a score of <24.

Results

A total of 945 participants were included in the statistical analyses with a mean age of 68.76 ± 6.50 years. The prevalence of SO was 6.0% (7.3% in men and 4.8% in women). The sarcopenic obese (odds ratio OR]: 2.550, 95% confidence interval CI], 1.196-5.435) and obese (ORs: 2.141, 95% CI, 1.230-3.728) groups had significantly increased risk for cognitive impairment in fully adjusted model, respectively.

Conclusion

The SO prevalence in elderly Chinese community-dwelling individuals was relatively low (6.0%). The present study suggested SO was independently associated with cognitive impairment.