Geriatric syndromes, such as sarcopenia (the joint reduction of strength and muscle mass), although frequent in the population, can be prevented or delayed onset which can promote active and healthy aging. The study aims to verify the association between handgrip strength (HGS), sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity and quality of life (QoL) in older adults from a major city of southern Brazil.

This study is part of a longitudinal, population-based and home-based epidemiological survey, EpiFloripa Aging, conducted with individuals aged 60 years or older from Florianópolis, Santa Catarina State, Brazil, in 2013/14. Multiple linear regression was performed to estimate the associations of handgrip strength (HGS – verified by mechanical dynamometer), sarcopenia (appendicular skeletal muscle mass by DXA /body weight <2 standard deviations below gender-specific means of young adults), sarcopenic obesity (obesity by percentage of body fat + sarcopenia), and the outcome of quality of life (CASP-16 Brazil), adjusted by age, family income, leisure and transportation physical activity, functional dependence, cognitive deficit and depressive symptoms.

Of the 1,197 of EpiFloripa follow-up, 604 older adults attended the laboratory, image and functional physical examination, and 584 underwent evaluation of body composition and HGS.  Considering the range of QoL score, from 0 to 48, the mean score was 38.2 (±7.2) and 39.3 (±6.5), respectively, for females and males.

Woman had a mean HGS of 17.9 kgf (±5.5), a prevalence of 6.6% (95%CI:3.9;10.8) of sarcopenia and 1.8% (95%CI: 0.9;3.3) of sarcopenic obesity. Among man HGS mean was 29.5 kgf (±8.5), 9.8% (95%CI:  5.6;16.6) presented sarcopenia and 14.2% (95%CI: 8.8;22.1) sarcopenic obesity.

Despite no statistical difference between the mean of QoL and the prevalence of sarcopenia or sarcopenic obesity, there was difference in the linear regression. In the adjusted analysis, at each increase of one kgf in HGS there was a 0.24 and 0.18 increase in the QoL score, for females and males, respectively. The sarcopenia was negatively associated with QoL, only in males, with a decrease of 3.06 points, but sarcopenic obesity wasn’t associated with QoL.

Considering the impact muscle and mass strength have on QoL, interventions that minimize the phenotypes related these conditions are fundamental. The adoption of exercises that improve the efficiency of muscular development and strength, as well as nutritional counseling, based on individual needs and socioeconomic level with a multi-professional team is emphasized. Since the HGS evaluation is a quick, simple, noninvasive and low-cost measure, it can be adopted by health professionals in the geriatric evaluation, and especially to become an important tool for monitoring and evaluate health groups results.

Guest blog by Larissa Pruner Marques – Researcher at EpiFloripa Aging Study, Department of Public Health, Federal University of Santa Catarina

Marques, L. P., Confortin, S. C., Ono, L. M., Barbosa, A. R., & d’Orsi, E. (2019). Quality of life associated with handgrip strength and sarcopenia: EpiFloripa Aging Study. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics, 81, 234- doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2018.12.015