Sarcopenia in geriatric patients from the plateau region of Qinghai-Tibet: A cross-sectional study

Table 1 General information of participants¹

		Total	Male	Female
Subjects		150 (100)	92 (61)	78 (39)
Age, yr		72.4 ± 5.6	72.9 ± 5.86	71.5 ± 5.2
BMI, kg/m2		24.11 ± 3.85	24.25 ± 3.97	23.88 ± 3.68
Ethnicity	Han	113 (75.33)	64 (42.67)	45 (30)
	Minority	37 (24.67)	28 (18.67)	13 (8.67)
Education	Illiterate	47 (31.33)	20 (13.33)	27 (18)
	Primary	41 (27.33)	28 (18.67)	13 (8.67)
	Junior	25 (16.67)	18 (12)	7 (4.67)
	Senior	23 (15.33)	15 (10)	8 (5.33)
	Diploma	9 (6)	7 (4.67)	2 (1.33)
	≥ Undergraduate	5 (3.33)	4 (2.67)	1 (0.67)
Marital status	Married	123 (82)	79 (52.67)	43 (28.67)
	Widowed	27 (18)	12 (8)	15 (10)
Smoking	Never	114 (76)	58 (38.67)	56 (37.33)
	Previously	21 (14)	20 (13.33)	1 (0.67)
	Now	15 (10)	14 (9.33)	1 (0.67)
Drinking	Never	123 (82)	68 (45.33)	55 (36.67)
	Frequently	10 (6.67)	8 (5.33)	2 (1.33)
	Stopped	17 (11.33)	16 (10.67)	1 (0.67)
Brewed tea	Never	48 (32)	29 (19.33)	19 (12.67)
	Occasionally	40 (26.67)	21 (14)	19 (12.67)
	Sometimes	26 (17.33)	18 (12)	8 (5.33)
	Frequently	36 (24)	24 (16)	12 (8)
Ghee consumption	Never	74 (49.33)	45 (30)	29 (19.33)
	Occasionally	45 (30)	27 (18)	18 (12)
	Sometimes	19 (12.67)	12 (8)	7 (4.67)
	Frequently	12 (8)	8 (5.33)	4 (2.67)
Beef/mutton consumption	Never	11 (7.33)	4 (2.67)	7 (4.67)
	Occasionally	48 (32)	25 (16.67)	23 (15.33)
	Sometimes	41 (27.33)	25 (16.67)	16 (10.67)
	Frequently	50 (33.33)	38 (25.33)	12 (8)
Fall history	No	124 (82.67)	78 (52)	46 (30.67)
	Yes	26 (17.33)	14 (9.33)	12 (8)
MNA-SF, score		11.93 ± 2.35	11.78 ± 2.29	12.17 ± 2.45
Barthel index, score		96 ± 7.6	96.8 ± 5.96	95.5 ± 9.63
Depression	No	136 (90.67)	85 (56.67)	51 (34)
	Yes	14 (9.33)	7 (4.67)	7 (4.67)
Hand grip strength, kg		24.9 ± 9.47	28.52 ± 9.39	19.24 ± 6.32
Muscle mass, kg/m2		6.95 ± 1.14	7.5 ± 0.97	6.08 ± 0.78
Six-meter gait speed, s/m		0.91 ± 0.23	0.94 ± 0.23	0.87 ± 0.24

¹Reported as n (%), unless indicated otherwise. BMI: Body mass index; MNA-SF: Mini Nutritional Assessment short form.

Table 2 Results of univariate analysis of factors associated with sarcopenia¹

		Sarcopenia
		No	Yes	t/χ2	P value
Subjects		120	30	-	-
Age, yr		71.93 ± 5.42	74.37 ± 6.15	2.15	0.03
Hospital stay, d		12.37 ± 4.34	13.77 ± 5.92	-1.46	0.15
BMI, kg/m2		24.95 ± 3.70	20.77 ± 2.36	5.89	0.001
BMI	Low	6 (5.0)	6 (20.0)	24.42	< 0.001
	Normal	44 (36.7)	21 (0.7)
	High	70 (58.3)	3 (10.0)
Gender	Male	79 (65.8)	13 (43.3)	5.15	0.024
	Female	41 (34.2)	17 (56.7)
Ethnic	Han	89 (74.2)	24 (80.0)	0.44	0.64
	Minority	31 (25.8)	6 (20.0)
Education	Illiterate	35 (29.2)	12 (40.0)	5.77	0.33
	Primary	34 (28.3)	7 (23.3)
	Junior	20 (16.7)	5 (16.7)
	Senior	17 (14.2)	6 (20.0)
	Diploma	9 (7.5)	-
	≥ Undergraduate	5 (4.2)	-
Marital status	Married	105 (87.5)	18 (60.0)	12.30	< 0.001
	Widowed	15 (12.5)	12 (40.0)
Smoking	Never	89 (74.2)	25 (83.3)	1.11	0.57
	Previously	18 (15.0)	3 (10.0)
	Now	13 (10.8)	2 (6.7)
Drinking	Never	98 (81.7)	27 (90.0)	1.24	0.54
	Frequently	9 (7.5)	1 (3.3)
	Stopped	13 (10.8)	2 (6.7)
Brewing tea	Never	41 (34.2)	7 (23.3)	3.04	0.39
	Occasionally	31 (25.8)	9 (30.0)
	Sometimes	18 (15.0)	8 (26.7)
	Frequently	30 (25.0)	6 (20.0)
Ghee consumption	Never	58 (48.3)	16 (53.3)	7.16	0.07
	Occasionally	41 (34.2)	4 (13.3)
	Sometimes	12 (10.0)	7 (23.3)
	Frequently	9 (7.5)	3 (10.0)
Beef/mutton consumption	Never	5 (4.2)	6 (20.0)	16.12	0.001
	Occasionally	41 (34.2)	7 (23.3)
	Sometimes	29 (24.2)	12 (40.0)
	Frequently	45 (37.5)	5 (16.7)
Fall history	No	102 (85.0)	22 (73.3)	2.28	0.13
	Yes	18 (15.0)	8 (26.7)
MNA-SF, score		11.87 ± 2.39	12.20 ± 2.20	–0.69	0.49
Barthel index, score		96.29 ± 8.16	96.5 ± 4.76	–0.13	0.89
Depression, score		2.51 ± 2.55	3.90 ± 3.22	–2.53	0.012

¹Reported as n (%), unless indicated otherwise. BMI: Body mass index; MNA-SF: Mini Nutritional Assessment short form.

Table 3 Results of binary logistic regression analysis for factors associated with sarcopenia

	B	SE	Wald	P value	OR (95%CI)
BMI
Normal	-1.23	0.73	2.89	0.09	0.29 (0.07-1.19)
High	-3.80	0.93	16.83	< 0.001	0.02 (0.004-0.13)
Widowed	1.31	0.59	4.98	0.02	3.69 (1.17-11.67)
Beef/mutton consumption
Occasionally	-2.01	0.86	5.49	0.02	0.14 (0.03-0.72)
Sometimes	-0.58	0.82	0.49	0.48	0.56 (0.11-2.81)
Frequently	-1.91	0.89	4.60	0.03	0.15 (0.03-0.85)

CI: Confidence interval; OR: Odds ratio; BMI: Body mass index.