Sarcopenia, But Not Sarcopenic Obesity, is Associated with Clinically Significant Depressive Symptoms in Older Mexican Adults

Abstract

Background: Sarcopenia and obesity have a high prevalence in Mexico. Evidence suggests that there is an association between these disorders and clinically significant depressive symptoms. Objective: The aim of the study is to provide the rate and association of depressive symptoms in subjects with sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in elderly Mexican. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of data obtained from the FraDySMex study conducted in Mexico City (n=513). Depressive symptoms were assessed with the short version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies- Depression scale, and a cut-off point ≥ 5 indicated the presence of clinically significant depressive symptoms. A body mass index ≥ 30 defined obesity. Sarcopenia was assessed with the SARC-F questionnaire; a score ≥ 4 indicated the presence of sarcopenia. Sarcopenic obesity was defined as obesity along with sarcopenia. Two models were used to determine the association: one model assessed sarcopenia and depressive symptoms; the other one assessed them with sarcopenic obesity. Results: The analysis included 513 subjects, and the mean age of the subjects was 71.7 ± 9.4; 80.1% were female. The prevalence of CSDS, sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity was 40.5%, 10% and 7.9%, respectively. Sarcopenia was associated with depressive symptoms (OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.35–5.14, p=0.004), but sarcopenic obesity was not associated with them (OR 1.86, 95% CI 0.89–3.89, p=0.09). Conclusion: Our study found that subjects with only sarcopenia were more likely to have depressive symptoms than subjects with sarcopenic obesity. However, properly prospective studies are needed to better understand this association.