Sarcopenic obesity is independently associated with frailty in geriatric outpatients: A cross-sectional study from university hospital.

Background: Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is an often-overlooked problem in older adults, and ultrasonography (US) is one of the methods that can be used for diagnosis. Frailty, another geriatric syndrome in older adults, is an important clinical marker associated with many physical and cognitive conditions. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between frailty and SO, diagnosed with different muscle mass measurement methods.

Methods: A total of 142 patients with obesity between the ages of 65 and 88 years who were admitted to the geriatric outpatient clinic were included. SO was defined using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and muscle US. The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) was used for the assessment of frailty.

Results: The prevalence of SO according to muscle US and BIA were 63.7% (n = 79) and 9.1% (n = 13), respectively. SO was significantly more common in participants living with frailty than robust counterparts according to both diagnostic tools (P < 0.05 for all). In regression analysis, it was found that SO, diagnosed by BIA and US, was independently associated with frailty regardless of confounding factors (odds ratio: 3.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.38-7.92, and P = 0.007 for US-diagnosed SO; odds ratio: 6.85, 95% CI: 1.19-39.55, and P = 0.032 for BIA-diagnosed SO).

Conclusion: The study found a higher prevalence of SO in participants living with frailty, with significant and independent associations observed using both muscle US and BIA.