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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1415398
This article is part of the Research Topic Effects of Aging on Skeletal Muscle View all 8 articles

The Prevalence of sarcopenia and risk factors in the elderly in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Shilong Meng Shilong Meng 1Xiaomin He Xiaomin He 2Xinlei Fu Xinlei Fu 3Xu Zhang Xu Zhang 1Minghao Tong Minghao Tong 1Wei Li Wei Li 1Wei Zhang Wei Zhang 4Xiaolin Shi Xiaolin Shi 2Kang Liu Kang Liu 2,4*
  • 1 Second Clinical Medical School, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
  • 3 The First School of Clinical Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medical, Fuzhou, China
  • 4 Xianju Branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medicine University, Taizhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Understanding the epidemiological information of a certain disease is the first step in related prevention and control work. This article aims to understand the prevalence and associated risk factors of sarcopenia among the elderly (≥60 years old) in China and to provide an evidence-based basis for early identification, management, and prevention of sarcopenia patients. Methods: We searched seven databases: CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases from the establishment of the database until January 31, 2024. The Quality evaluation criteria of cross-sectional studies recommended by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) were used for literature quality evaluation. Stata 18.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: We finally included 45 studies, involving a total of 37,571 cases. After statistical analysis, we found that the prevalence of sarcopenia among the elderly in China was 20.7% [95% CI (18.3%, 23.0%)]. The results of subgroup analysis suggest that: ① According to gender, the prevalence rate of sarcopenia in women (21.6%) is higher than that in men (19.2%); ② According to age, the prevalence rate of elderly people aged ≥80 (45.4%) was the highest, followed by 70-79 (27.2%) and 60-69 (15.7%). ③ According to region, the prevalence rate of the elderly in the south (21.7%) is higher than that in the north (19.0%); ④ According to the time of publication, the prevalence of sarcopenia among the elderly in China has increased (from 19.2% in 2014-2018 to 21.4% in 2019-2024); ⑤ According to the diagnostic criteria, the detection rate of AWGS(2019) is higher than that of AWGS(2014) (24.5% vs 19.3%). Finally, aging, low BMI, low leg circumference, smoking, depression, osteoporosis, malnutrition, and malnutrition risk are all risk factors for sarcopenia among the elderly in China. Conclusion: The prevalence of sarcopenia in the elderly in China was higher (20.7%)， which should be paid attention to by relevant health authorities.

    Keywords: Sarcopenia, Prevalence, Risk factors, Elderly, Chinese, Meta-analysis

    Received: 10 Apr 2024; Accepted: 25 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Meng, He, Fu, Zhang, Tong, Li, Zhang, Shi and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kang Liu, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.