Detecting Sarcopenia Risk by Diabetes Clustering: A Japanese Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Context: Previous studies have assessed the usefulness of data-driven clustering for predicting complications in patients with diabetes mellitus. However, whether the diabetes clustering is useful in predicting sarcopenia remains unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the predictive power of diabetes clustering for the incidence of sarcopenia in a prospective Japanese cohort.

Design: Three-year prospective cohort study.

Setting and patients: We recruited Japanese patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus (n = 659) between January 2018 and February 2020 from the Fukushima Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism cohort.

Interventions: Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were used to measure the predictive values of the conventional and clustering-based classification of diabetes mellitus for the onset of sarcopenia. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019 consensus update.

Main outcome measures: Onset of sarcopenia.

Results: Cluster analysis of a Japanese population revealed 5 diabetes clusters: cluster 1 [severe autoimmune diabetes (SAID)], cluster 2 [severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIDD)], cluster 3 (severe insulin-resistant diabetes, cluster 4 (mild obesity-related diabetes), and cluster 5 (mild age-related diabetes). At baseline, 38 (6.5%) patients met the AWGS sarcopenia criteria, and 55 had newly developed sarcopenia within 3 years. The SAID and SIDD clusters were at high risk of developing sarcopenia after correction for known risk factors.

Conclusions: This study reveals that among the 5 diabetes clusters, the SAID and SIDD clusters are at a high risk for developing sarcopenia. Clustering-based stratification may be beneficial for predicting and preventing sarcopenia in patients with diabetes.

Keywords: diabetes clustering; sarcopenia.