Association of Low Muscle Mass, Weak Grip Strength, and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Old Ages

Background: Sarcopenia is an age-related disease, and is assumed to be associated with systemic inflammation. We examined the relationship between the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), an easily accessible inflammatory marker, and sarcopenia in older adults.Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study, medical records of patients visiting a tertiary hospital’s health check-up center were analyzed. The study included older adults aged 60 and over, and who had their grip strength, skeletal muscle mass, and complete blood count with differential tests measured. In this study, sarcopenia was defined as the presence of both low muscle mass and weak grip strength according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 criteria.Results: Of the 2,385 participants, 74 participants (3.10%) had sarcopenia. The non-sarcopenia group was younger than the sarcopenia group (mean age, 65.8±5.4 vs. 73.2±7.5). The average NLR of participants without sarcopenia was 1.75±0.97 and the average NLR of participants with sarcopenia was 2.08±1.11 (P=0.004). The number of participants with sarcopenia increased across higher NLR quintile (P for trend=0.016), as well as those with low skeletal muscle mass (P for trend<0.001) and weak grip strength (P for trend=0.009).Conclusions: Older adults with a high NLR may be considered for sarcopenia screening.