Association between sarcopenia and cognitive function in older Chinese adults: Evidence from the China health and...

Sarcopenia and cognitive impairment are the most common causes of disability in the aging population. The potential role of sarcopenia in the development of cognitive impairment remains poorly understood. A cross-sectional analysis was performed using nationally representative data to evaluate associations between sarcopenia and cognition in China.

We included 2,391 participants (35.63% female) who were at least 60 years of age in 2015 from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Muscle strength, appendicular skeletal mass (ASM), and physical performance measurements, were measured to diagnose sarcopenia according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 (AWGS2019). Cognitive function was assessed by 10 items in the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-10), delayed word recall, and graph drawing. Based on cognitive score tertiles, data were divided into three groups. Multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to assess the relationship between sarcopenia and cognition.

The prevalence of possible sarcopenia was 27.16% for men and 27.46% for women. Cognitive decline was significantly associated with sarcopenia status (β = -0.88, p < 0.001) and negatively associated with components of sarcopenia in male group. The results remained consistent in male after further adjusting for creatinine, uric acid, blood sugar, etc. Low cognitive function in female was only associated with low muscle strength (β = -0.85, p = 0.02). In addition, participants with possible sarcopenia had greater risk of cognitive decline than those without sarcopenia (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.06-1.87). However, the same association was not significant in female group.

We suggest that sarcopenia might be associated with cognition function, with possible sarcopenia being significantly associated with higher cognition risk in China population, which providing a further rationale for timely recognition and management of sarcopenia.