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Published on: July 5, 2017
Bidirectional association between sarcopenia and diabetes: A prospective cohort study in middle-aged and elderly
Yu Zhang1, Miao Gong1, Xu-Man Feng1
1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China.
Background And Aims:
Sarcopenia and diabetes are prevalent diseases among middle-aged and elderly population. This study aimed to investigate the bidirectional association between sarcopenia and diabetes.
Methods:
This study comprised two longitudinal analyses. In cohort 1, the association between baseline diabetes and the risk of new-onset sarcopenia was assessed. In cohort 2, the association between baseline sarcopenia and the risk of new-onset diabetes was examined. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI). Cross-lagged panel analysis was used to further validate their bidirectional associations.
Results:
Significant bidirectional associations were observed between sarcopenia and diabetes in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses (P < 0.05). After four years of follow-up, low handgrip strength (OR: 2.31, 95 % CI: 1.74-3.08) and appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASM/Ht2) (OR: 1.25, 95 % CI: 1.20-1.30) were associated with an increased risk of diabetes. Conversely, elevated fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (OR: 1.52, 95 % CI: 1.17-1.96) and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (OR: 1.35, 95 % CI: 1.05-1.73) were associated with a higher risk of sarcopenia. Cross-lagged analysis further confirmed their bidirectional longitudinal association.
Conclusions:
This study identified significant longitudinal bidirectional association between sarcopenia and diabetes, highlighting that each condition serves as a risk factor for the other. Clinically, early assessments of handgrip strength and ASM/Ht2 may aid in diabetes prevention, while monitoring FPG and HbA1c could help reduce the risk of sarcopenia.
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