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Cross-Sectional Associations of Sarcopenia and Its Components with Neuropsychological Performance among Memory Clinic Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease

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Abstract

Background

The association of sarcopenia with cognitive function in its specific domains remains poorly understood.

Objectives

To investigate the association of sarcopenia and its components with neuropsychological performance among patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Design

Cross-sectional design.

Setting

A memory clinic in Japan.

Participants

The study included 497 MCI/684 AD patients aged 65–89 years.

Measurements

Patients were assessed for muscle mass by bioelectrical impedance analysis, muscle strength by hand grip strength (HGS), and physical performance by timed up and go test (TUG). Sarcopenia was defined as presence of both low muscle strength and low muscle mass. The patients underwent neuropsychological tests, including logical memory, frontal lobe assessment battery, word fluency test, Raven’s colored progressive matrices, digit span, and the Alzheimer’s disease assessment scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog). Results: The prevalence of sarcopenia in men and women was 24.1% and 19.5%, respectively. In multiple regression analyses adjusting for confounders, unlike in men, sarcopenia was associated with memory function in women (ADAS-cog, memory domain, coefficient = 1.08, standard error (SE) = 0.36), which was thought likely due to the relationship between HGS and memory function (immediate recall of logical memory, coefficient = 0.07, SE = 0.03; ADAS-cog, memory domain, coefficient = −0.10, SE = 0.03). Of the components of sarcopenia in both sexes, HGS and TUG were associated with visuospatial function and frontal lobe function, respectively.

Conclusions

The specific association of sarcopenia and its components with cognitive domains may provide the key to elucidating the muscle-brain interactions in AD.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the BioBank at the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology for the quality control of the clinical data.

Funding

Funding: This work was supported by funds from the Research Funding for Longevity Sciences (grant number 21–28) from the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology. The funders had no role in study design, methods, data collection/analysis, and preparation of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Prevention and Care Science, Research Institute, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 7-430 Morioka, Obu, Aichi, 474-8511, Japan

    Taiki Sugimoto, Y. Kuroda & T. Sakurai

  2. Center for Comprehensive Care and Research on Memory Disorders, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan

    Taiki Sugimoto, N. Matsumoto, K. Uchida, Y. Kishino, N. Saji & T. Sakurai

  3. Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

    K. Uchida

  4. Department of Cognition and Behavior Science, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

    Y. Kishino & T. Sakurai

  5. Research Institute, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan

    S. Niida

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  1. Taiki Sugimoto
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  2. Y. Kuroda
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  3. N. Matsumoto
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Contributions

Author Contributions: T.Su. designed the analysis and study design, organized data, and wrote the manuscript. T.Sa. designed the analysis and study design, contributed statistical support, and reviewed/edited the manuscript. Y.Ku., N.M., K.U., S.N. reviewed/edited the manuscript and contributed to the discussion. Y.Ki., N.S., T.Sa. ascertained patients and follow them, collected data, reviewed/edited the manuscript, and contributed to the discussion. T.Su. is the guarantor of this work and, as such, had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Taiki Sugimoto.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest: None.

Ethical standards: The local Ethics Committee of the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology approved the study (approval number: No.1400).

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Sugimoto, T., Kuroda, Y., Matsumoto, N. et al. Cross-Sectional Associations of Sarcopenia and Its Components with Neuropsychological Performance among Memory Clinic Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease. J Frailty Aging 11, 182–189 (2022). https://doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2022.3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2022.3

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