Association among sarcopenia, physical activity and quality of life in healthy elderly

Background: loss of skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) is one of the most profound changes affecting the human body with ageing (Narici &Maffulli 2010) as it reduces strength, mobility and ability to dispose of circulating blood-sugar, eventually reducing quality of life of individuals. However there is paucity of data on the prevalence of sarcopenia in non-clinical populations and in particular how this affects mobility and quality of life. Aim: to investigate the association between sarcopenia and variables related to quality of life in a population of medically stable, community-dwelling elderly men and women. Method: 88 participants (40 male and 48 female), age range 64-83 years (mean 72.3 ± 4.6 years), body mass index (BMI) men: 26.5 ±3.7 and women: 24.7±3.5, were recruited for this study and underwent the following measurements: a) Body Composition analysis (by bioelectrical impedance, BIA), b) Gait speed, measured over 4 m, c) Quality of Life (QoL) measured using the Medical Outcomes Survey Short-form General Health Survey (SF- 36) translated and validated in Italian (Apolone and Mosconi, 1998) and, d) Physical Activity level, measured with the IPAQ-short version, (Mannocci et al. 2010). The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and strength of monotonic relationship between paired data was tested with the Spearman correlation coefficient. Results: BIA Skeletal Muscle Index (SMI) was 34.3±3.2 for men and 30.8±4.9 for women; 45 participants (51%) were classified as sarcopenic and 43 (49%) as non-sarcopenic according to Janssen et al. (2002). SMI significantly correlated with musculoskeletal pain (Rho=-0.245; p<0,05), in particular sarcopenic people reported a more intensive musculoskeletal pain. Instead, no correlation between SMI and physical activity level was found. IPAQ categorical score was low 10% (n=9), moderate 42% (n=37), high 40% (n=16) for the men and low 13% (n=6), moderate 33% (n=16), high 54% (n=26) for the women and IPAQ score was positi