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Sarcopenia Screened with SARC-F and Subjective Memory Complaints Are Independently Associated with Increased Risk of Incident Dementia among Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults

  • Original Research
  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

The main aim of this study was to examine the association of sarcopenia and subjective memory complaints with the incidence of dementia in a population-based cohort of cognitively unimpaired older adults.

Design

Three-year longitudinal study.

Settings and Participants

A total of 2163 community-dwelling persons aged 65 years or older who participated in the National Health Interview Survey in Taiwan, 2017.

Measurements

Sarcopenia was determined based on SARC-F, a self-reported symptom-based questionnaire that includes five components: strength, assistance walking, rise from a chair, climb stairs, and falls. Two questions (“Do you have difficulties with your memory or attention?” and “Do you have difficulties with your memory only or attention only or both?”) were used to screen for subjective memory complaints (SMCs). The incidence of dementia was determined by data linkage to the Taiwan National Health Insurance claims database from 2018 to 2020.

Results

Among the 2163 participants without dementia at baseline, 135 had incident dementia during the 3-year follow-up, giving a crude incidence rate of 6.2% (135/2163). Compared to participants free from sarcopenia and SMCs, the adjusted hazard ratio for incident dementia was 1.83 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23–2.72) for SMCs alone, 2.40 (95% CI: 1.17–4.93) for sarcopenia alone, and 2.49 (95% CI: 1.21–5.11) for coexisting SMCs and sarcopenia.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that sarcopenia screened with SARC-F and SMCs independently predict the cognitively unimpaired older adults at risk of incident dementia. Our findings highlight the importance of screening not only for cognitive but also muscle deficits to identify those at increased risk of incident dementia.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported (in part) by grants (MOST 111-2410-H-182-003-MY3) from the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Care Management, College of Management, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan, 333, Taiwan

    Chia-Lin Li & Y.-H. Tsai

  2. Division of Preventive Medicine and Health Service Research, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Maoli, Taiwan

    H.-Y. Chang

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Correspondence to Chia-Lin Li.

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Conflict ofinterest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical consideration: This research complied with the ethical rules for human experimentation stated in the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Li, CL., Chang, HY. & Tsai, YH. Sarcopenia Screened with SARC-F and Subjective Memory Complaints Are Independently Associated with Increased Risk of Incident Dementia among Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults. J Nutr Health Aging 27, 940–945 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-023-2006-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-023-2006-x

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