Relationship between Eating Alone and Handgrip Strength in Korean Older Adults

Area of Science:

• Gerontology and Public Health
• Nutritional Epidemiology
• Muscle Physiology

Background:

• Sarcopenia, characterized by age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, poses significant health challenges for older adults.
• Social factors, such as eating alone, are increasingly recognized as potential contributors to adverse health outcomes in the elderly.
• Dynapenia, specifically low handgrip strength, is a key indicator of muscle weakness and functional decline.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between the frequency of eating alone and dynapenia in older adults.
• To identify if eating alone is a modifiable risk factor for dynapenia in different sexes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 7278 Korean adults aged 65 and older from the 2014-2019 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
• Handgrip strength (HGS) was measured using a digital dynamometer; dynapenia was defined based on sex-specific HGS thresholds.
• Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the relationship between eating alone and dynapenia, adjusting for potential confounders.

Main Results:

• Older women eating two meals alone showed a significantly higher likelihood of dynapenia compared to those who never ate alone (OR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.03-1.77).
• A combined analysis revealed that women eating two or three meals alone had increased odds of dynapenia compared to a reference group eating one meal or none alone (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.04-1.50).
• No statistically significant association between eating alone and dynapenia was found in older men.

Conclusions:

• Eating alone, particularly frequent solitary meals, is associated with a higher prevalence of dynapenia in older women.
• This finding highlights eating alone as a potential modifiable lifestyle factor influencing muscle strength decline in elderly women.
• Further research could explore interventions to mitigate the risk of dynapenia associated with social isolation during meals.