The Prevalence of Sarcopenia in Adults Aged 20 to 59 Attending a Primary Care Clinic at a University Hospital

Abstract

Objective: Identify the prevalence of sarcopenia in adults aged 20 to 59 years in the Primary Care clinic at a hospital in Mexico. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional, and descriptive study was carried out, which included 174 participants distributed according to the gender and age groups. Detailed analyses were performed, such as place of residence, schooling level, socioeconomic level, body mass index, and level of sarcopenia. This analysis was based on the diagnostic criteria established by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2). Result: In evaluating 174 participants, a gender distribution was identified with 56 men and 118 women. The majority of participants came from urban environments (172). By dividing these by age group (20 to 30 years, 31 to 40 years, 41 to 50 years, and 51 to 59 years), a total of 81, 32, 32, and 39 participants were obtained, respectively. Regarding body mass index, the study was divided into underweight (4), average weight (60), overweight (58), and obesity (52). In this study, probable sarcopenia was identified in 7 participants, while no cases of confirmatory sarcopenia or severe sarcopenia were found. When analyzing the presence of probably sarcopenia according to the body mass index, it was observed that this condition manifested itself in patients with average weight (4 patients), overweight (2 patients), and obesity (1 patient). Conclusion: The results of this study reveal the absence of sarcopenia in the population between 20 and 59 years of age. Although the findings in this study differ from other studies, it is suggested that longitudinal and specific research aimed at adults in the age range of 20 to 59 years of age be carried out.