The Overlap of Sarcopenia and Frailty: When Two Major Geriatric Syndromes Coincide

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of the co-occurrence of sarcopenia and frailty and to determine any associations between these syndromes and physical activity, nutrition, and psychological well-being in Turkish older adults. Materials and Methods: All of the participants were aged >= 65 years. Sarcopenia was diagnosed using the SARC-CalF scale with a previously determined national calf diameter cut-off value of 33 cm. Frailty was evaluated with the FRAIL scale. The Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA) was administered to measure physical activity, the Mini-Nutritional Assess-ment (MNA) to evaluate nutritional status, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) to assess depression.Results: A total of 566 individuals were included in the study. The prevalence rate of pre-frailty, sarcopenia, frailty, and sarcopenia+frailty was 42.4%, 6.89%, 6.89%, and 2.47%, respectively. A multinomial logistic regression model consisting of the RAPA (p<0.001), MNA (p<0.001), and GDS (p<0.001) revealed that each was associated with all of the subgroups (pseudo R2=0.322; goodness-of-fit= 0.753; p=0.481). The association became stronger with progression from pre-frailty to sarcopenia+frailty, with the exception of the RAPA score recorded in the sarcopenia subgroup.Conclusion: The concurrent prevalence rate of sarcopenia and frailty was 2.47% in community-dwelling older adults. The likelihood of being physically inactive, malnourished, and depressed became more pronounced with deterioration in physical condition. This is the first known study to report the prevalence rate of the overlap of frailty and sarcopenia in Turkiye and the association between these syndromes and physical inactivity, malnutrition, and depression. The study has been registered with the US National Institutes of Health (National Clinical Trial number: NCT04146844).