This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Dynapenic obesity may predict increased risk for falls in elderly
In middle aged and older adults, dynapenic obesity, but not sarcopenic obesity, is a predictor of an increased falls risk score, according to recent findings published in Obesity.
These findings suggest that muscle function assessments may be a useful clinical tool in predicting the risk of falls in this population.
In the 5-year retrospective cohort study, researchers evaluated 674 adults (48% women) living in southern Tasmania who were between the ages of 50 and 79 years. The study participants were assessed at baseline at a clinic between March 2002 and September 2004 and were asked to attend a follow-up clinic 5 to 6 years after the initial assessment. During the baseline assessment, researchers determined participants’ height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, soft tissue composition, total body fat, total body fat percentage, trunk fat and appendicular lean mass (ALM). The researchers defined sarcopenia as low muscle mass in relation to body size. This was determined through the residuals of the linear regression of ALM on height and total body fat. Dynapenia was categorized as poor lower-limb strength. Obesity was classified as high total fat or trunk fat mass as determined through DXA.
The Physiological Profile Assessment was utilized to calculate changes in falls risk, and these risk categories were expressed as z scores (0-1, mild increased risk; 1-2, moderate increased risk; and >2, marked increased risk).
Usingmultivariable linear regression analysis, data demonstrated that the patients categorized as having dynapenic obesity had mild but significantly increased falls risk scores (change in mean z score vs. non-dynapenic, non-obese group: 0.33, 95% CI, 0.06-0.59 [men] and 0.46, 95% CI, 0.21-0.72 [women]). Women with dynapenia only were also found to have an increased falls risk over 5 years (0.25, 95% CI, 0.05-0.46).
According to the researchers, these findings suggest that measurements of muscle function may be valuable in evaluating older patients for falls risk.
“The combined assessment of muscle strength and obesity may be a useful method for clinicians attempting to identify older patients who may be at the greatest risk of falls,” the researchers wrote. “Dynapenic obesity may be easily diagnosed using muscle strength and anthropometric measurements, and as such may be a useful component of falls risk assessment for obese patients in the clinical setting.”
Disclosure: This study was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the Arthritis Foundation of Australia, the Tasmanian Community Fund and the University of Tasmania Institutional Research Grants Scheme.