Age-related muscle mass and function decline are critical issues that have gained attention in clinical practice and research. Nevertheless, little is known regarding the time course of muscle health progression, and its determinants during this transition should be estimated.
We enrolled community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years during their regular health checkup. The participants’ body composition and muscle function were measured annually from 2015 to 2021. Presarcopenia was characterized by the loss of muscle mass only; dynapenia was defined as low muscle function without changes in muscle mass; and sarcopenia was indicated as a decline in both muscle mass and muscle function. We observed the natural course of muscle health progression during aging. The relationship between muscle health decline and different determinants among old adults was examined.
Among 568 participants, there was 18.49%, 3.52%, and 1.06% of healthy individuals transited to dynapenia, presarcopenia, and sarcopenia, respectively. Significant positive correlations between age, fat-to-muscle ratio (FMR) and the dynapenia transition were existed [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.08 and HR = 1.73, all
Healthy community-dwelling old adults tended to transit to dynapenia during muscle health deterioration. Individuals with older age, higher FMR, lower albumin level had a higher risk of dynapenia transition; and a positive dose-response effect existed among this population as well.