Objectives:
The prospective association of both dynapenia and obesity with the risk of all-cause and premature mortality in a general population remains unknown. The aims of this study was to investigate the prospective effects of dynapenia and obesity on risk for all-cause and premature mortality over 10 years using a large nationwide sample of Korean adults. We also investigated synergistic effects of dynapenic obesity on the increased risk of mortality.
Methods:
The study participants included 9,229 (4,139 male and 5,098 female) middle and older adults (33,554 person-years of follow-up). Muscular strength was measured using the handgrip strength. Dynapenia was defined using the sex-specific handgrip strength index based on the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. We also defined obesity based on the diagnosis from the Korean obesity society using body mass index. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality assessed based on death certificate.
Results:
The hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality was significantly higher in dynapenia group independent of potential confounding factors (HR: 1.80, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.57–2.06 for low vs. normal-high group). However, obesity was not associated with the risk of mortality. When examined using combined dynapenia and obesity, a higher risk of mortality was found dynapenic obesity compared with normal group (HR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.02–1.65). In addition, we could not found any evidence on synergistic effects of combined dynapenia and obesity for the increased risk for mortality.
Conclusions:
We found that dynapenia was associated with increased risk of all-cause and premature mortality over 10 years of follow-up in the general Korean adults.