Sarcopenia in the elderly population is a public health challenge, and there are few data on its prevalence in Europe. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of sarcopenia in the elderly Polish population and its association with the level of obesity and co-existing diseases. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study involving 823 men and 1177 women aged 65 years and older, randomly selected from the population living in the territory of the Republic of Poland between 2017 and 2020. We analyzed the results of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). Risk of sarcopenia was assessed with the simple questionnaire to rapidly diagnose sarcopenia (SARC-F), and sarcopenic obesity risk was defined as the combination of anthropometry and SARC-F results. In addition, we collected disease data with an author questionnaire. The prevalence of risk of sarcopenia was 18.6% (22.3% in women and 13.2% in men), and its incidence significantly increased with age in both sexes. The risk of sarcopenic obesity was more common in women than in men, and it was higher in the older age group, except for sarcopenic obesity diagnosed by the WHR criteria. The group of elderly with concomitant diseases had a higher risk of developing sarcopenia, which emphasizes the need to monitor sarcopenia when concomitant diseases are diagnosed. In both groups, risk of sarcopenia was associated with motor and respiratory system diseases, type 2 diabetes, and neurological diseases. This study highlights that the risk of sarcopenia in the elderly population affects women to a greater extent than men. It is important to identify the elderly at risk of sarcopenia in routine clinical practice to develop long-term prevention strategies.
Keywords: aged; frailty; obesity; risk factors; sarcopenia.