Prevalence of sarcopenia and its connection with nutritional and functional status in Asian countries: a scoping review

Abstract

Muscle impairment is a common condition in elderly and a powerful risk factor for disability and mortality. Therefore, this study presents available evidence on the prevalence and its association with nutritional and functional status. An electronic database search on academic journals published from 2015 to 2020 was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Medscape. A total of 20 studies with 36,739 participants were identified and included in this review. The age range was 55 years and older. The overall prevalence of sarcopenia is in a range of 5.4% to 80.1%. The prevalence among Asian populations is in the range of 6.8% to 80.1%. Prevalence of sarcopenia was reported to be the highest in health care centre (5.4% to 80.1%), followed by nursing homes (28.8% to 41.4%) and community-dwelling (6.8% to 30%). Most studies reported that low body mass index (<18.5kg/m2) was significantly associated with sarcopenia and a positive association was found between inadequate protein intake (<0.8g/kg BW/day) and sarcopenia. However, sarcopenia was not associated with functional status (ADL). It can be concluded that sarcopenia is highly prevalent in older adults, especially with a low BMI and insufficient protein intake. Decline in functional status was an independent indicator for the presence of sarcopenia.