Threshold values of anthropometric indicators of obesity for screening of low muscle mass in elderly women as a method for early diagnosis of sarcopenia

The decrease in female sex hormones with age causes a decrease in muscle mass, a change in the contractile properties of muscles, as well as the infiltration of adipose tissue into muscle. This leads to a subsequent decrease in muscle strength, functional disorders, and disability. In this regard, the development of simple screening techniques to detect low muscle mass is relevant. Aim of the study: to determine the threshold values of anthropometric obesity indices for detecting low muscle mass in elderly women. Materials and methods: the study included 593 elderly women (average age 63.19 ± 2.11 years). All participants were measured anthropometric indicators (height, weight, body mass index (BMI, kg/m2), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), the ratio of OT to height (OTR), triglyceride levels (TL), high density lipoproteins (HDL), body composition using bioimpedance analysis. Results: The study participants had a BMI of 28.49±5.17 kg/m2 and WC 95.35±10.39 cm, the prevalence of low muscle mass was 19.4%. The threshold values of anthropometric obesity indices for screening low muscle mass in elderly women for BMI were 29.4 kg/m2, for WC - 94.3 cm, for WC/HC - 0.91, for OTR - 0.64, for IR - 1.34, for IOT - 39.1, for INL - 51.4. Logistic regression analysis showed that that age over 60 years (OR = 3.8; CI 95%: 2.2-6.8), WC (OR = 6.2; CI 95%: 1.4-28.1), WC/HC (OR = 1.8; CI 95%: 1.0-3.4), OTR (OR = 5.0; 95% CI: 1.0-23.7) and IOT (OR = 14.5; 95% CI: 6.6-31.7) were associated with low muscle mass (p<0.05). Conclusions: in this study, the threshold values of anthropometric obesity indices for screening low muscle mass in elderly women were determined, which is of great practical importance for early diagnosis of sarcopenia, its monitoring during therapeutic and preventive measures.