Sarcopenia and life-course physical activity in community-dwelling older people

Physical activity is a modifiable factor for sarcopenia. Although several studies have suggested the importance of physical activity in preventing sarcopenia, it is unclear whether different levels of physical activity across different life stages influence sarcopenia. This study examined the association between life-course physical activity and sarcopenia.

In total, 3846 participants (mean age 76.1 ± 4.6 years, 53.3 % female) from the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology-Study of Geriatric Syndromes, a national cohort study conducted in Japan, were included in the analysis. Physical activity status across life stages was categorized as follows: Non-exercisers, n = 2070 (53.8 %); Past exercisers, n = 502 (13.1 %); New exercisers, n = 722 (18.8 %); Maintainers, n = 371 (9.7 %); and Others, n = 181 (4.7 %).

Binary logistic regression analysis showed that Maintainers (odds ratio [OR]: 0.58, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.42-0.80, p = 0.001) had significantly lower odds of sarcopenia in old age than Non-exercisers, even after adjustment for covariates. However, this was not the case for New exercisers (OR: 0.83, 95 % CI: 0.67-1.04, p = 0.099), Past exercisers (OR: 0.87, 95 % CI: 0.67-1.13, p = 0.296); and Others (OR: 0.80; 95 % CI: 0.54-1.21, p = 0.291).

Lifelong exercise habits were associated with lower odds of sarcopenia in older age. In contrast, discontinuation of physical activity in mid-life or late life showed no advantage over lifelong inactivity. However, due to the cross-sectional design of this study, causal relationships cannot be established.