Association Between The Status Of Sarcopenic Obesity And Osteoarthritis Using The KNHANES 2014-2019 Data

Abstract

PURPOSE: To investigate the association between the 4 body composition status of sarcopenic obesity and the prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: 10,514 participants aged over 60 years in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2014-2019 (KNHANES VI-II-VIII) were included in this study. Sarcopenia was defined by the value of hand grip strength of <26 kg for men and < 18 kg for women. Obesity was defined as waist circumference of ≥90 cm for men and ≥ 85 for women. OA was defined as who responded ‘yes’ for whether the participant being diagnosed as OA in the past (yes/no) and whether currently receiving treatments for OA (yes/no). Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of OA according to the 4 body composition categories, classifying participants into groups of sarcopenic obesity (48%), nonsarcopenic obesity (33%), sarcopenic nonobesity (11%), and nonsarcopenic nonobesity (8%). RESULTS: Sarcopenic obesity (OR 1.77; 95% CI 1.45-2.15) and nonsarcopenic obesity (OR 1.70; 95% CI 1.48-1.94) demonstrated significantly higher prevalence of OA compared to nonsarcopenic nonobesity reference group after adjusting for age and sex. However, sarcopenic nonobesity (OR 1.18; 95% CI 0.97-1.44) did not show significant association with OA. CONCLUSIONS: The existence of obesity was rather more strongly associated with the prevalence of OA than the presence of sarcopenia in the aspect of the 4 body composition categories. These findings support the importance of the status of obesity and its systemic metabolic effects on the prevalence of OA. Furthermore, group of sarcopenic obesity showing slightly stronger association with the prevalence of OA than nonsarcopenic obesity group suggests the impact of the sarcopenia among obese population in the prevalence of OA.