Associations of social frailty with loss of muscle mass and muscle weakness among community‐dwelling older adults

AIM: The present cross-sectional study examined the associations of social frailty status with loss of muscle mass and weakness among community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: for women) and muscle weakness (handgrip strength <26 kg for men, <18 kg for women) were determined based on the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia criteria. RESULTS: The prevalence of social frailty was 14.7%. A higher prevalence of muscle weakness and loss of skeletal muscle mass in participants with social frailty was shown than in those without (muscle weakness 44.2% vs 23.6%, P ≤ 0.05; loss of skeletal muscle mass 59.6% vs 46.2%, P = 0.07). Social frailty was independently associated with muscle weakness (odds ratio 2.04, 95% confidence interval 1.06-3.95), but not with loss of skeletal muscle mass (odds ratio 1.47, 95% confidence interval 0.78-2.76) after adjusting for covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Social frailty status could be associated with muscle weakness, though not a loss of skeletal muscle mass. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 76-80.