Sarcopenia and obesity have been independently associated with physical function decline, however little information is currently available on the relationship between sarcopenic obesity and physical performance, mainly in middle aged women. The present study aims to estimate the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity and to explore the relationship between sarcopenic obesity and physical performance in middle-aged women from Northeast Brazil. A cross-sectional study of women (40–65 years) living in Parnamirim, a city in Northeast Brazil (n = 491). Physical performance was assessed by grip strength, knee extensor and flexor strength (isometric dynamometry), gait speed, and chair stands. Using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), appendicular skeletal muscle mass divided by height squared (kg / m2) was used to define sarcopenia. Waist circumference ≥ 88 cm was defined as abdominal obesity. Sarcopenic obesity was defined as the coexistence of obesity and sarcopenia. The physical performance outcomes were regressed in four groups defined by combinations of sarcopenia and obesity, adjusting for potential confounders (age, education and menopausal status). Prevalence rates of the four obesity-sarcopenia groups were: Sarcopenic obesity (7.1 %), obesity (67.4 %), sarcopenia (12.4 %) and normal (13 %). Women with sarcopenic obesity had significantly lower grip strength, weaker knee extension and flexion and longer time to raise from a chair compared with non-obese and non-sarcopenic women (p.values < 0.001). Except for the chair stands, these statistically significant differences were also found between sarcopenic obese and obese women. There was no significant difference for gait speed across the four groups (p = 0.50). Sarcopenic obesity was present in 7 % of this population of middle-aged women from Northeast Brazil and it was associated with poor physical performance. Sarcopenic obesity may occur in middle-aged women with performance limitations beyond pure sarcopenia-related muscle mass or obesity alone.

OBJETIVO: Analisar a influência dos fatores sociodemográficos, de saúde física e neuropsiquiátricos sobre a capacidade funcional de idosos residentes no município de Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil. MÉTODOS: Desenvolveu-se um estudo transversal, no qual uma amostra representativa de 310 idosos residentes na zona urbana da cidade de Santa Cruz-RN foi entrevistada, a partir da utilização de um questionário que continha informações sobre perfil sociodemográfico, condições de saúde física, função cognitiva e sintomatologia depressiva, além dos Índices de Katz e Lawton, que mediram as atividades básicas (ABVD's) e instrumentais (AIVD's) da vida diária. A análise estatística foi feita mediante análise bivariada (Qui-quadrado de Pearson), seguida de regressão logística binária na análise multivariada, com a respectiva odds ratio (OR), considerando nível de significância p< 0,05 e intervalo de confiança (IC) de 95%. RESULTADOS: Para o Índice de Katz teve-se que 86,9% eram independentes e no Índice de Lawton apenas 47,4%. Na análise multivariada houve associação com as ABVDs a idade (OR= 1,06) e má percepção de saúde (OR= 3,64). Nas AIVD's houve associação com a idade (OR= 1,18), sexo feminino (OR= 4,30), analfabetismo (OR= 3,78), estado civil (OR= 2,14), sintomatologia depressiva (OR= 4,54) e a má percepção de saúde (OR= 4,47). CONCLUSÃO: As variáveis associadas à incapacidade funcional revelam uma complexa relação entre o estado de saúde dos idosos e possíveis fatores de risco de declínio físico.

Remote monitoring platforms based on advanced health sensors have the potential to become important tools during the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting the reduction in risks for affected populations such as the elderly. Current commercially available wearable devices still have limitations to deal with heart rate variability (HRV), an important health indicator of human aging. This study analyzes the role of a remote monitoring system designed to support health services to older people during the complete course of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, since its beginning in Brazil in March 2020 until November 2021, based on HRV. Using different levels of analysis and data, we validated HRV parameters by comparing them with reference sensors and tools in HRV measurements. We compared the results obtained for the cardiac modulation data in time domain using samples of 10 elderly people’s HRV data from Fitbit Inspire HR with the results provided by Kubios for the same population using a cardiac belt, with the data divided into train and test, where 75% of the data were used for training the models, with the remaining 25% as a test set for evaluating the final performance of the models. The results show that there is very little difference between the results obtained by the remote monitoring system compared with Kubios, indicating that the data obtained from these devices might provide accurate results in evaluating HRV in comparison with gold standard devices. We conclude that the application of the methods and techniques used and reported in this study are useful for the creation and validation of HRV indicators in time series obtained by means of wearable devices based on photoplethysmography sensors; therefore, they can be incorporated into remote monitoring processes as seen during the pandemic.