Age Difference in the Association Between Nutritional Status and Dynapenia in Older Adults

Although nutritional status plays a critical role in maintaining muscle strength, limited evidence exists regarding its association with dynapenia.

We aimed to investigate the association between different nutritional statuses and dynapenia among Taiwanese older adults, and assessed whether age modifies this relationship.

In this study, we enrolled individuals aged 65 years and older living in community settings through convenience sampling from 2020 to 2021, following a cross-sectional design. The Mini-Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF) was used to assess whether the participants were at nutritional risk. Standardized assessments measured muscle strength (handgrip measurement), physical performance (6 m walking test), and muscle mass (bioelectrical impedance analysis) to confirm dynapenia classifications. The interaction terms were tested using likelihood ratio tests to examine for dynapenia between nutritional status and age. For overall sample and subgroup analyses, binary logistic regression was employed.

Among 211 participants (mean age: 80.7 ± 7.1 years), after adjusting for potential confounders, those at nutritional risk (OR: 3.11; 95% CI: 1.31-7.36) were positively associated with dynapenia, whereas higher MNA-SF scores (OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.57-0.93) were negatively associated. Interactions regarding dynapenia were observed between nutritional status and age group (p = 0.014), with nutritional risk significantly associated with dynapenia only in the old-old group (≥75 years) (OR = 4.11, 95% CI: 1.39-12.15).

Age is a potential moderator of nutritional status and dynapenia among older populations. Nutritional status appeared to be more profound in the old-old group in terms of the risk of dynapenia. These findings offer insights for monitoring nutritional status and implementing targeted interventions to prevent dynapenia in those aged over 75 years. Future studies using prospective designs should explore the underlying mechanisms linking nutritional status to dynapenia and assess the effectiveness of nutritional interventions in preventing muscle strength decline.