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Prevalence and determinants of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults in Ireland

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Abstract

Background

Data on the prevalence of sarcopenia among older adults in Ireland are lacking.

Aims

To assess the prevalence and determinants of sarcopenia among community-dwelling older adults in Ireland.

Methods

This cross-sectional analysis involved n = 308 community-dwelling adults aged ≥ 65 y living in Ireland. Participants were recruited via recreational clubs and primary healthcare services. Sarcopenia was defined according to the 2019 European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) criteria. Skeletal muscle mass was estimated using bioelectrical impedance analysis, strength was measured via handgrip dynamometry, and physical performance was assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery. Detailed information was collected on demographics, health, and lifestyle. Dietary macronutrient intake was measured via a single 24 h recall. Binary logistic regression was used to examine potential demographic, health, lifestyle, and dietary determinants of sarcopenia (where both probable and confirmed sarcopenia were combined).

Results

The prevalence of EWGSOP2-defined probable sarcopenia was 20.8% and confirmed sarcopenia was 8.1% (5.8% had severe sarcopenia). Polypharmacy (OR 2.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3, 5.23), height (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91, 0.98), and Instrumental Activities Of Daily Living (IADL) score (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.59, 0.86) were independently associated with sarcopenia (probable and confirmed combined). There were no independent associations between energy-adjusted macronutrient intakes, as determined by 24 h recall, and sarcopenia.

Conclusion

Sarcopenia prevalence within this sample of community-dwelling older adults in Ireland is broadly similar to other European cohorts. Polypharmacy, lower height, and lower IADL score were independently associated with EWGSOP2-defined sarcopenia.

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Data availability

The data (in de-identified form) used in the manuscript will be made available upon request pending approval from the corresponding author, S.N.McC.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the participants for the time and energy they spent while taking part in this trial. We thank Helen Cummins who assisted with collecting the data, and Alan Maloney and Ellen Flanagan for their help with data entry.

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Food Institutional Research Measure Grants entitled NUTRIMAL ‘Novel Nutritional Solutions for the Prevention of Malnutrition’ (Grant number 14F822) and the Teagasc Research Leaders 2025 program co-funded by Teagasc and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement number 754380. HMR was supported by funding from the Joint Programming Initiative Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life (JPI HDHL) EU Food Biomarkers Alliance ‘FOODBAll’ with Science Foundation Ireland (14/JPHDHL/B3076).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rural Economy and Development Programme, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin, D15 KN3K, Ireland

    Caoileann H. Murphy & Sinead N. McCarthy

  2. School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sport Science, UCD Conway Institute, UCD Institute of Food and Health, University College Dublin (UCD), Dublin, Ireland

    Caoileann H. Murphy, Aoibheann M. McMorrow, Clare A. Corish & Helen M. Roche

  3. School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Brendan Egan

  4. Health Service Executive Community Health Organisation 6, Wicklow, Ireland

    Maureen J. McGowan

  5. Health Service Executive Community Health Organisation 9, Dublin, Ireland

    Sheena Rafferty

  6. Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK

    Helen M. Roche

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Contributions

The authors’ responsibilities were as follows—AMMcM, BE, CAC, MJMcG, SR, HMR, and SNMcC: designed the trial; AMMcM and CHM: collected the data; CHM and SNMcC: performed the statistical analysis; CHM: wrote the manuscript; AMMcM, BE, CAC, MJMcG, SR, SNMcC, and HMR: critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; SNMcC and HMR: had primary responsibility for the final content; and all authors: read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sinead N. McCarthy.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the University College Dublin (UCD) Human Research Ethics Committee (permit: LS-15-46-Egan) and was performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Murphy, C.H., McCarthy, S.N., McMorrow, A.M. et al. Prevalence and determinants of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults in Ireland. Aging Clin Exp Res 35, 1651–1660 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-023-02453-4

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