Center-Based vs Home-Based Geriatric Rehabilitation on Sarcopenia Components: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

To investigate the available evidence on the components of sarcopenia in geriatric rehabilitation and to examine whether changes in different settings are associated with sarcopenia.

PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in the Cochrane Library, and Embase were searched from initiation to August 30, 2021.

We included randomized controlled trials of older adults receiving geriatric rehabilitation that included strength exercise training.

The following study contents were extracted: study design, patient characteristics, sample size, description of the rehabilitation setting, follow-up time point, and outcomes. The main outcomes were muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical performance.

Weighted mean difference for Timed Up and Go score and standardized mean difference for other parameters were calculated.

Center-based geriatric rehabilitation improved lower limb strength and Timed Up and Go test score to a greater extent than home-based geriatric rehabilitation in elderly people. Center-based training seems to show a minor superior effect on gait speed in prolonged follow-up rather than at the endpoint of intervention. To draw a stronger conclusion, further high-quality trials with standard protocols and longer follow-up are needed.