Background
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with the high risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and mortality. Sarcopenia is characterized by a decline in muscle mass and strength, and many studies have consistently reported an association between sarcopenia and MetS. However, most previous studies have focused on the relationship between muscle mass and MetS. There have been few studies on the association between sarcopenia severity and MetS. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between sarcopenia severity and MetS.
Methods
This study included 2,397 participants (1,061 male and 1,336 female) aged ≥45 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. MetS was defined as having ≥3 of risk factors. Pre- sarcopenia was defined as low muscle mass only, and dynapenia was defined as low muscle strength only. Sarcopenia was defined as the presence of both low muscle mass and low muscle strength. A survey logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between sarcopenia severity and MetS after adjusting for covariates.
Results
The odds ratio (OR) for MetS was 1.71 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07–2.73) in the sarcopenia group compared to the normal group (reference). Dynapenia (OR = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.55–1.19) and pre-sarcopenia
(OR = 1.17; 95% CI: 0.83–1.64) groups were not significantly associated with an increased risk of MetS. In sensitivity analyses, only the sarcopenia group was significantly associated with an increased risk of MetS in men (OR = 3.57; 95% CI: 1.34–9.50) and older adults aged ≥65 years (OR = 1.64; 95% CI: 1.01–2.66).
Conclusion
Our study showed that sarcopenia was associated with an increased risk of MetS, but not with low muscle mass or strength alone. Therefore, our findings suggest that the combination of low muscle mass and low strength should be considered for the prevention of MetS.