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Korean J Obes 2014; 23(1): 23-31

Published online March 30, 2014

Copyright © Korean Society for the Study of Obesity.

The Risk Factors of Sarcopenia among Korean Elderly Men: Based on 2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data

Sang-kyo Lee, Jung Ah Lee*, Jin-Young Kim, Young Zu Kim, Hye Soon Park

Department of Family Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine

Received: July 19, 2013; Reviewed : August 8, 2013; Accepted: November 12, 2013

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background: Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass, is an important health problem that is increasing with age. However, little is known about the risk factors of sarcopenia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for sarcopenia in elderly Korean men using data from the 2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES).
Methods: We used KNHANES data including 691 men above the age of 60. In this study, sarcopenia was defined as aLM (appendicular lean mass) / height2 ± 2SD or more below the normal mean for young. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were performed to evaluate the factors associated with sarcopenia including age, marital status, income, cigarette smoking, alcohol, physical activity, and caloric intake.
Results: In our study population, 11.6% of the men had sarcopenia. The mean aLM/height2 in men was 6.1 kg/m2 in subjects with sarcopenia and 7.8 kg/m2 in subjects without sarcopenia, respectively. Subjects with sarcopenia tended to be older with lower BMI, and lower energy intake. Also, lower educational level and divorced/widowed status were factors associated with sarcopenia. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, old age, low BMI, and low caloric intake were associated with sarcopenia.
Conclusion: Older age, lower BMI, and lower daily calorie intake were the risk factors for sarcopenia among Korean men over the age of 60. Therefore, an appropriate amount of calorie intake and maintenance of a normal BMI is suggested to be essential in preventing sarcopenia.

Keywords: Sarcopenia, Elderly, Body mass index, Energy intake


Basic characteristics of the study population (N = 691)



Anthropometric and biochemical status in the subjects with sarcopenia and without sarcopenia



Demographic and life style factors in the subjects with sarcopenia and without sarcopenia



Multivariate odds ratios for sarcopenia as a dependent variable and the associated factors as independent variables in the study population


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