Sex-Specific Associations between Serum Ferritin and Osteosarcopenic Obesity in Adults Aged over 50 Years

Abstract

We investigated the sex-specific association between ferritin and adverse body composition in adults aged over 50 years in a population-based cohort. A total of 25,546 participants (16,912 women; 8634 men) were stratified into three groups by the tertiles of ferritin. The number of adverse body compositions was categorized as 0 (without osteopenia/osteoporosis, low muscle mass, or obesity), 1 (having one of the components), 2 (two), and 3 (all three; osteosarcopenic obesity). As ferritin tertile increased, the prevalence of one, two, or three simultaneous adverse body compositions increased, significant only in women (p < 0.0001), not in men (p = 0.125). Among women, the prevalence of osteosarcopenic obesity gradually increased from 1.7% in the lowest, to 2.2% in the middle, and 2.5% in the highest tertile. Using multivariate-adjusted analysis, women in the higher tertile had an increased likelihood of having multiple adverse body compositions compared with those in the lowest tertile. Women in the highest tertile had a 1.52 times increased risk of osteosarcopenic obesity than those in the lowest tertile. A high ferritin level was associated with an increased risk of having multiple adverse body compositions, especially for osteosarcopenic obesity in women aged >50 years, suggesting its potential use for detecting osteosarcopenic obesity.