Prevalence of sarcopenia and its association with metabolic syndrome in Korean cancer survivors

Abstract

strength, weight loss, physical activity, and exhaustion. Associations between the presence of frailty and abnormal GA (defined as 2 or more abnormal GA domains) as well as baseline patient characteristics were determined using Chi-square tests or Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables and the Wilcoxon rank sum test for continuous variables. Results: Of 134 patients approached, 50 (37.7%) enrolled and completed a baseline GA. Most patients were younger (60–64 years), white, male, married, and employed. Most patients had AML or MDS (70%), 46% were in remission/partial remission at HCT, and 88% had a Karnofsky performance status (PS) of 90–100. Only 24 (48%) completed all three assessments. Patients with AML/MDS were less likely to complete the study (p = 0.02) and more likely to have abnormal GA (p = 0.01). Baseline frailty was present in 11 (22%) patients and was associated with abnormal functional status (p = 0.01) and low education level (p = 0.04), but not abnormal GA. Frailty was present in 13/31 (41.9%) at 3 months and 13/24 (54.2%) at 6 months. Among the 24 who completed the study, neither baseline frailty nor baseline GA was associated with frailty at 3 months or 6 months. Conclusion: A substantial proportion of older patients was frail and had abnormal GA prior to allo-SCT, despite having good PS. However, geriatric assessment was not associated with the development of frailty after SCT. GA identifies many potentially treatable problems, but this study did not include an intervention to lessen the impact of SCT in older persons. Future studies should be aimed at interventions that improve frailty, functional status, and quality of life outcomes in older SCT patients.