Sarcopenia is a common condition in older people. The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence and factors associated with sarcopenia in an elderly Chinese suburb-dwelling population. This study was conducted on 1,069 Chinese suburb-dwelling participants aged ≥60 years to evaluate sarcopenia using the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia criteria. Sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics, as well as medical conditions, were considered independent variables to determine factors associated with sarcopenia using a logistic regression model. The prevalence of sarcopenia was 6.4% in men and 11.5% in women. Age was a significant factor in both sexes. In addition, presence of sarcopenia was inversely associated with BMI for both sexes. The odds ration and 95% confidence interval for factors statistically significantly associated with sarcopenia were 5.04 (1.70–14.89) and 2.36 (1.06–5.25) for diabetes in males and females, respectively; 10.60 (1.75–64.24) for daily consumption of alcohol (daily drinkers), 5.58 (2.13–14.59) for peptic ulcer in female (not statistically significant in males). The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia criterion is useful for defining sarcopenia, and our data suggest that the prevalence of sarcopenia in the general elderly suburb-dwelling Chinese population is high. Moreover, we find that high body mass index is inversely associated with the likelihood of being sarcopenic and that several others factors such as diabetes, peptic ulcer, and drinking habits increase the prevalence of sarcopenia.

Timed Up and Go Test can predict recurrent falls: a longitudinal study of the community-dwelling elderly in China Li Kang,1,2 Peipei Han,2 Jiazhong Wang,2 Yixuan Ma,2 Liye Jia,2 Liyuan Fu,2 Hairui Yu,2 Xiaoyu Chen,2 Kaijun Niu,3,4 Qi Guo1,2 1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area International Cardiovascular Hospital, Cardiovascular Clinical College of Tianjin Medical University, 2Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, 3Nutritional Epidemiology Institute, 4School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China Purpose: Falling is a major health problem in community-dwelling elderly individuals. The aim of the present study was to conduct a prospective investigation to evaluate the accuracy of the Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT), 4-meter walking test, and grip strength test to screen for the risk of falls and to determine a cutoff point to be used clinically.Patients and methods: This was a prospective study that included 541 participants. The fall data were obtained via face-to-face interview, and the date, site, and circumstances of any falls were recorded. TUGTs were recorded as part of a comprehensive geriatric assessment. We collected the same data at baseline and after follow-up via comprehensive geriatric assessment.Results: The incidence of falls of our study subjects was 20.8%. The recurrent-fall group had a fall rate of 6.8% during the follow-up year. The standard area under the curve (AUC) of our screening tool was >0.70, and hence our tool can be used for clinical purposes. After adjusting for age and gender, the AUC of TUGT became 0.642, so it cannot be used as a predictive tool for measuring any types of falls. However, when recurrent falls were adjusted for age and gender, the TUGT’s AUC improved to 0.733 and a score of 15.96 seconds is used as a cut-point to screen recurrent falls in community-dwelling elderly Chinese individuals.Conclusion: Future falls were best predicted by TUGT in recurrent fallers at baseline. A score of 15.96 seconds is used as a cut-point to screen recurrent falls in community-dwelling elderly Chinese individuals. Keywords: community dwelling, elderly, fall, TUGT

The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in the Chinese elderly. A total of 1611 elderly individuals aged ≥60 years were enrolled in this study. The well-established CVRF of diabetes, hypertensions, and dyslipidemia were assessed. Sarcopenia was defined according to the recommended algorithm of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS). Multiple logistic regression analyses and the linear regressions were used to evaluate the components of CVRF and the number of CVRF of elderly patients with sarcopenia. After adjusting for potential confounders, CVRF was associated with a high prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly Chinese populations. Furthermore, diabetes and hypertension, but not dyslipidemia, were found to be significantly associated with sarcopenia. The OR and 95% CI for sarcopenia of the participants with 1, 2, and 3 features of CVRF were 2.27(1.14–4.48), 4.13(1.80–9.46), and 4.90(1.01–23.81), respectively. A linear increase in the prevalence of sarcopenia was found to be associated with the number of CVRF components in the elderly population (P values for the trends < 0.001). Knowledge of known CVRF, particularly diabetes and hypertension, may help predict the risk for sarcopenia in the elderly.

Objective: To determine the prophylactic efficacy of short-term intensive preoperative inspiratory muscle training on the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in patients scheduled for cardiac surgery. Design: Single-blind, randomized controlled pilot study. Setting: TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital, China. Subjects: In total, 197 subjects aged ⩾50 years scheduled for cardiac surgery were selected. Intervention: The intervention group ( n = 98) received five days of preoperative inspiratory muscle training on top of the usual care received by the patients in the control group ( n = 99). Main measures: The primary outcome variable was the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complications. The secondary outcome variables were inspiratory muscle strength, lung function and length of hospitalization. Results: After cardiac surgery, a total of 10 (10.2%) of the 98 patients in the intervention group and 27 (27.3%) of 99 patients in the control group had postoperative pulmonary complications (risk ratio, 0.23; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.09–0.58, P = 0.002). The study revealed that, compared with the control group, the intervention group had a significant increase in inspiratory muscle strength (by 10.48 cm H₂O, P < 0.001), forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration (FEV1) %predicted (by 3.75%, P = 0.030), forced vital capacity (FVC) %predicted (by 4.15%, P = 0.008) and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) %predicted (by 6.44%, P = 0.034). Length of hospital stay was 7.51 (2.83) days in the intervention group and 9.38 (3.10) days in the control group ( P = 0.039). Conclusion: A five-day intensive pattern of preoperative inspiratory muscle training reduced the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications and duration of postoperative hospitalization in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.