Sarcopenia in Parkinson's disease patients

Abstract

Objective: Sarcopenia is an involuntary loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength and/or function. The identification of sarcopenia in patients with Parkinsons disease (PD) may have prognostic and therapeutic effects. In our study, we aimed to evaluate sarcopenia in patients with PD by using bioimpedance analysis (BIA). Methods: One hundred non-demented patients with PD, and 95 healthy subjects were included in the study. Fat-free mass, weight, bone mass, fat mass, basal metabolism rate (BMR), body surface area, and body mass index (BMI) of the PD and control groups were measured using BIA. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the ages of the men and women in the PD and control groups p=0.19 and p=0.29, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in the average muscle mass of the men and women in the PD and control groups: 29.83±2.13 and 31.96±1.66 kg/m2 (p<0.001), and 25.43±2.16 and 26.82±1.69 kg/m2 (p=0.002), respectively. There were statistically significant differences in weight, fat mass, bone mass, BMR, and BMI between the men in PD and control groups: 76.47±11.71 and 82.64±11.08 kg (p=0.005); 18.32±6.13 and 21.55±7.84 kg (p=0.01); 2.91±0.37 and3.04±0.27 kg (p=0.03); 1679±236 and 1775±179 calories (p=0.01); 27.40±3.58 and 28.88±3.52 kg/m2 (p=0.02), respectively. There were statistically significant differences between weight and BMR in women in the PD and control groups: 70.30±13.72 and 77.54±17.22 kg (p=0.04) and 1374±194 and 1482±244 calories (p=0.03), respectively. Conclusion: Our study indicates that sarcopenia is not rare in PD, and early diagnosis and treatment could decrease functional decline in patients with PD.