Associations between walk ratio and osteoporosis and sarcopenia in community-dwelling older women

The objective of this study was to analyze the associations between walk ratio and the prevalence of osteoporosis and sarcopenia among older women in the community.

A total of 225 community-dwelling older women participated in the study. All participants underwent standardized assessments of body composition, anthropometry, and gait parameters. Based on walk ratio, which was calculated based on step length and cadence, participants were categorized into the lowest tertile, middle tertile, and highest tertile, corresponding to the lowest, middle, and highest 33%, respectively. Osteoporosis and sarcopenia were classified based on femoral neck bone mineral density and the appendicular skeletal muscle mass index, respectively. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) for exposure to osteoporosis and sarcopenia across walk ratio levels.

After adjusting for covariates, results showed that individuals in the lowest tertile had significantly higher odds of having osteoporosis (OR = 2.240, 95% CI = 1.031-4.866, p = .004) and sarcopenia (OR = 2.848, 95% CI = 1.271-6.383, p = .011) than those in the highest tertile (OR = 1, reference). Additionally, the odds of concurrent exposure to osteosarcopenia were significantly higher in the lowest tertile (OR = 5.902, 95% CI = 1.209-28.819, p = .028) compared to the highest tertile (OR = 1, reference).

These findings suggest that a low walk ratio is an independent risk factor for both osteoporosis and sarcopenia, and may serve as a predictive indicator capable of simultaneously identifying osteosarcopenia.