Evaluation of sarcopenia frequency in 65 years and over individuals in Muş province and its impacts on their quality of life

Sarcopenia is a geriatric syndrome characterized by the progressive decline of skeletal muscle, mass quality and strength. Sarcopenia causes many illnesses, decreases quality of life and increases dependency, mortality and hospitalization. The goal of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of sarcopenia among elderly people, aged 65 years and older, in the central district of Muş province and to examine its effects on quality of life. This research is a cross-sectional study. The target is 10737 elderly individuals aged 65 years and older and living in the central district of Muş province. The prevalence of sarcopenia among elderly people is considered as 15%, and the minimum sample size required for 95% confidence interval with a margin of error of 3% is calculated to be 371. The adequate sample size for the survey is accomplished interviewing with 186 and 185 people residing in villages and in the city center, respectively. Variables of such cross-sectional study are independent variables which are principally (a) presence of sarcopenia (determined according to EWGSOP-suggested algorithm), (b) socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, economic status, marital status, education status, place of residence and period of residence), (c) health variables (presence of chronic diseases, multiple drug use and body mass index), (d) depression status, (e) malnutrition status, (f) instrumental activities of daily living performance and (g) quality of life. The data were collected through conducting face-to-face interviews at individuals' home, and the collected data were analyzed with Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U-test. The average age of participants is 72.3 ± 6.8 years (65-100) and 46.1% of them are females. According to body mass index, 124 (33.4%) of participants are obese and 130 (35.0%) are overweight. The prevalence of sarcopenia is 17.5% among females and 16% in males. The prevalence of sarcopenia is 11.8% among elderly people residing in villages, whereas it is 21.6% among elderly individuals living in urban center. This difference is in fact found to be meaningful (p ≤0.05). A significant difference does exist between the presence of sarcopenia and physical function which is one of the sub-parameters of S_f-36 quality of life scale, physical role weakness and emotional role weakness (p=<0.05). It is concluded that sarcopenia is very common among elderly people in society, and the presence of sarcopenia has detrimental effects on quality of life.