Association of non-exercise physical activity with sarcopenia compared with that of exercise habits among community-dwelling older adults: A 7-year follow-up from the Kashiwa Cohort Study

Aim

This study investigated the relationship of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity non-exercise physical activity (NEPA) and exercise habits (EH) with sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods

A 7-year longitudinal analysis was conducted using data of 863 older adults from the Kashiwa Cohort Study in Japan, with baseline assessment in 2014 and follow-up in 2016, 2018, and 2021. Sarcopenia was assessed using the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 criteria. NEPA status and EH were evaluated using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire and a self-reported questionnaire according to the Japanese National Health and Nutrition Survey, respectively.

Results

Cox regression analysis identified baseline NEPA and EH as predictors of cumulative sarcopenia incidence. The incidence of new-onset sarcopenia and adjusted hazard ratios (95 % confidence interval [CI]) were 10.7 % and 0.49 (0.25–0.94) for NEPA only, 9.6 % and 0.44 (0.23–0.85) for EH only, and 8.0 % and 0.40 (0.22–0.72) for both, respectively, compared with 18.9 % for the neither NEPA nor EH group. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) analysis revealed that the odds of sarcopenia were significantly lower in the NEPA only, EH only, and both NEPA and EH groups, with adjusted odds ratios (95 % CI) of 0.52 (0.28–0.96), 0.48 (0.24–0.95), and 0.36 (0.20–0.63), respectively.

Conclusions

Both NEPA and EH were independently associated with a lower sarcopenia incidence. Therefore, NEPA may be a practical alternative to structured exercises for older adults.