Bioelectrical impedance analysis-derived phase angle predicts sarcopenia in older adults with type 2 diabetes...

Sarcopenia is prevalent among older patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The phase angle (PhA), derived from bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), is a potential marker for sarcopenia. This study aimed to explore the relationship between PhA and sarcopenia in older patients with T2DM and determine the PhA threshold for predicting sarcopenia.

We conducted a cross-sectional study with 263 older patients with T2DM hospitalized at a Chinese tertiary referral center. Participants were categorized into sarcopenia (T2DM-SP) and non-sarcopenia (T2DM-NSP) groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the PhA as an independent predictor of sarcopenia after adjusting for confounding factors. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the predictive value of PhA in sarcopenia.

PhA was significantly lower in the T2DM-SP group vs the T2DM-NSP group (4.523±0.627° vs 4.995±0.711°; p<0.001). Moreover, the PhA was significantly related to sarcopenia, even after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and other covariates, PhA remained independently associated with sarcopenia (OR, 0.112; p=0.001), low HGS (OR, 0.220; p=0.007), and low ASMI (OR, 0.083; p<0.001). ROC curve analysis determined the optimal PhA cutoff values for diagnosing sarcopenia as 5.35° for men (AUC, 0.717; p<0.001) and 4.55° for women (AUC, 0.745; p<0.001).

The study identified a significant relationship between sarcopenia and PhA among older patients with T2DM, which may serve as a valuable marker for predicting sarcopenia in this population. Further prospective studies are required to confirm these findings and clarify the underlying mechanisms.