Incidence of sarcopenic obesity in older patients with diabetes and association between sarcopenic obesity and higher-level functional capacity: evaluation based on a consensus statement

Abstract

We used a consensus statement to diagnose sarcopenic obesity, evaluated incidence of sarcopenic obesity in older patients with diabetes, and examined whether sarcopenic obesity was associated with their higher-level functional capacity. Outpatients with diabetes (age, ≥65 years) undergoing treatment at Ise Red Cross Hospital were included. The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (TMIG-IC)—a self-administered questionnaire—was used to assess their higher-level functional capacity. Sarcopenic obesity was evaluated based on the consensus statement diagnostic criteria—i.e., presence or absence of decreased skeletal muscle mass was evaluated based on appendicular skeletal muscle mass/body weight and obesity was assessed based on body fat mass percentage. To calculate the adjusted β coefficient of sarcopenic obesity for higher-level functional capacity, multiple regression analyses were performed using TMIG-IC scores as the dependent variable and four categories (non-sarcopenia/non-obesity was used as a reference) that included sarcopenia and obesity as the predictor and moderator variables. Among the 310 patients included, the sarcopenic obesity incidence was 13.1% and 14.2% in men and women, respectively. When the non-sarcopenia/non-obesity group was used as a reference, the adjusted β coefficient of sarcopenic obesity for scores of the TMIG-IC was –2.09 (p = 0.014) in men. However, the women showed no relationship between sarcopenic obesity and TMIG-IC scores. In older men with diabetes, sarcopenic obesity was associated with a decline in higher-level functional capacity.