Association between sarcopenia and cardiovascular disease among middle-aged and older adults: Findings from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

Ke Gao; Li-Fei Cao; Wen-Zhuo Ma; Ya-Jie Gao; Miao-Sha Luo; Jiao Zhu; Tian Li; Dan Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101264

Association between sarcopenia and cardiovascular disease among middle-aged and older adults: Findings from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

EClinicalMedicine. 2022 Jan 10:44:101264. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101264. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Authors

Ke Gao¹, Li-Fei Cao¹, Wen-Zhuo Ma², Ya-Jie Gao¹, Miao-Sha Luo³, Jiao Zhu³, Tian Li⁴, Dan Zhou³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
² Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, RI, United States.
³ Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 277 West Yanta Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, China.
⁴ School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the association between sarcopenia and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among middle-aged and older adults. Using the nationally representative data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we conducted cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses to investigate the association between sarcopenia status and CVD in middle-aged and older Chinese population.

Methods: The sample comprised 15,137 participants aged at least 45 years from the CHARLS 2015. Sarcopenia status was defined according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 (AWGS 2019) criteria. CVD was defined as the presence of physician-diagnosed heart disease and/or stroke. A total of 11,863 participants without CVD were recruited from the CHARLS 2015 and were followed up in 2018. Cox proportional hazards regression models were conducted to examine the effect of sarcopenia on CVD.

Findings: The pre valence of CVD in total populations, no-sarcopenia, possible sarcopenia and sarcopenia individuals were 12.6% (1905/15,137), 10.0% (1026/10,280), 18.1% (668/3685), 18.0% (211/1172), respectively. Both possible sarcopenia [OR (95% CI): 1.29 (1.13-1.48)] and sarcopenia [1.72 (1.40-2.10)] were associated with CVD in total populations. During the 3.6 years of follow-up, 1,273 cases (10.7%) with incident CVD were identified. In the longitudinal analysis, individuals with the diagnosis of possible sarcopenia (HR:1.22, 95% CI: 1.05-1.43) and sarcopenia participants (HR:1.33, 95% CI: 1.04-1.71) were more likely to have new onset CVD than no-sarcopenia peers.

Interpretation: Both possible sarcopenia and sarcopenia, assessed using the AWGS 2019 criteria, were associated with higher CVD risk among middle-aged and older Chinese adults.

Funding: None.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; Low muscle mass; Possible sarcopenia; Sarcopenia.