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Background: Sarcopenia is a common condition in older people. The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence and factors associated with sarcopenia in an elderly Chinese suburb-dwelling population.Methods: This study was conducted on 1,069 Chinese suburb-dwelling participants aged ≥60 years to evaluate sarcopenia using the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia criteria. Sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics, as well as medical conditions, were considered independent variables to determine factors associated with sarcopenia using a logistic regression model.Results: The prevalence of sarcopenia was 6.4% in men and 11.5% in women. Age was a significant factor in both sexes. In addition, presence of sarcopenia was inversely associated with BMI for both sexes. The odds ration and 95% confidence interval for factors statistically significantly associated with sarcopenia were 5.04 (1.70-14.89) and 2.36 (1.06-5.25) for diabetes in males and females, respectively; 10.60 (1.75-64.24) for daily consumption of alcohol (daily drinkers), 5.58 (2.13-14.59) for peptic ulcer in female (not statistically significant in males).Conclusions: The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia criterion is useful for defining sarcopenia, and our data suggest that the prevalence of sarcopenia in the general elderly suburb-dwelling Chinese population is high. Moreover, we find that high body mass index is inversely associated with the likelihood of being sarcopenic and that several others factors such as diabetes, peptic ulcer, and drinking habits increase the prevalence of sarcopenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: More efficient clinical indexes are needed to identify older people most likely to present mobility impairments. The aim of the present study was to determine which handgrip strength (HS) indexes are clinically relevant to detect risk of mobility limitation in the elderly adults. In addition, we attempted to determine an optimal cutoff point for the most relevant index.Methods: Data are from 469 men and 609 women aged 60 years and older recruited in the Hangu area of Tianjin, China. Participants scoring in the top 20% on the Timed Up and Go Test or in the slowest 20% for the 4-m walk test were defined as having mobility limitation.Results: The prevalence of mobility limitation was 27.6% in women and 24.5% in men. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve for HS/body fat mass was 0.723 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.658-0.788) in men and for HS/weight was 0.684 (95% CI = 0.628-0.739) in women. These values were indicated higher levels of mobility limitation compared with HS and other relative HS indexes. The cutoffs of the most relevant index in men and women that effectively identified individuals at risk of mobility limitation were 1.884 and 0.281, respectively.Conclusion: HS/body fat mass and HS/weight appear to be the indices best associated with mobility limitation for men and women, respectively. Optimal cutoffs for clinically relevant index have the potential to identify elderly adults at risk of mobility limitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]