Sarcopenic obesity diagnosis by different criteria mid-to long-term post-bariatric surgery

The aim of this study was to apply the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism/European Association for the Study of Obesity (ESPEN/EASO) consensus to identify sarcopenic obesity (SO) in adults mid to long-term post-Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) using both dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Further, this approach was compared to accepted sarcopenia diagnostic criteria (Revised European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People [EWGSOP2] and Sarcopenia Definition and Outcomes Consortium [SDOC]).

This cross-sectional study included adults ≥2 years post-RYGB surgery. Obesity was diagnosed by excess fat mass (FM) for all diagnostic criteria. Agreement was evaluated using Cohen's Kappa.

We evaluated 186 participants (90.9% female, median age 43.9 years, 6.8 years post-surgery), of which 60.2% (BIA), and 83.3% (DXA) had excess FM. Low muscle strength was not identified using absolute handgrip strength. The prevalence of SO by BIA or DXA, respectively, was 7.9% (95%CI 3.9-12.5), and 23.0% (95%CI 17.1-30.3) [ESPEN/EASO SO consensus]; 0.7% (95%CI 0-2.0), and 3.3% (95%CI 0.7-5.9) [EWGSOP2]; and 27.0% (95%CI 19.7-34.2), and 30.3% (95%CI 23.0-37.5) [SDOC]. Agreement between the ESPEN/EASO SO consensus and other diagnostic criteria was none to slight using DXA: EWGSOP2 k = 0.19; 95% CI 0.04-0.34, or SDOC k = 0.16; 95% CI -0.01-0.32. Moderate agreement was observed within the ESPEN/EASO SO consensus for BIA and DXA (k = 0.43; 95% CI 0.26-0.60).

This is the first study to explore the prevalence of SO using the ESPEN/EASO criteria. We identified a high but variable prevalence of SO in post-bariatric surgery patients (7.9-23.0%), depending on the body composition technique used; prevalence was higher using DXA. Little agreement was observed for the diagnosis of SO using the three diagnostic criteria. Future studies are needed to explore the relationship between SO identified by the ESPEN/EASO consensus and health status/outcomes.