Menopause hormone therapy and sarcodynapenia: the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

To study the association between menopause hormone therapy (MHT) and sarcodynapenia in women from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 10,834 eligible postmenopausal women. The exposure was prior or current use of MHT (never, ever). Sarcopenia was defined as an appendicular lean mass less than 5.72 kg/m 2 using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and dynapenia as a grip strength less than 20.4 kg. Sarcodynapenia was defined as the concomitant presence of sarcopenia and dynapenia. Poisson regression analysis produced prevalence ratios (PR) for the associations between MHT use and sarcodynapenia adjusted for age at interview, education, study site, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and body mass index. Additional analyses were conducted according to duration of MHT (5 years or less, more than 5 years), age categories (45-64 years, 65 years or older), and physical activity level as per the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly score (less active, more active).

Menopause hormone therapy was not associated with sarcodynapenia (PR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.89-1.35). When subdivided by years of use and physical activity, relative to no MHT use, MHT use for 5 years or less was associated with a higher prevalence of sarcodynapenia among less active women (PR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.11-2.21) and with a lower prevalence among those more active (PR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.39-0.92). The use of MHT for more than 5 years was not associated with sarcodynapenia.

Menopause hormone therapy for 5 years or less is associated with a lower prevalence of sarcodynapenia among physically active women and with a higher prevalence of sarcodynapenia in those less active. Strategies to promote an active lifestyle in all postmenopausal women, including MHT users, are needed to attain benefits for musculoskeletal health.