Sarcopenia and Related Factors in Older Adults Receiving Day Care Services

Comparison between Cognitive Impairment and Non-cognitive Impairment

Abstract

  This study aimed to assess sarcopenia and related factors in older adults receiving day care services by comparing participants with cognitive impairment (CI) with participants with non-cognitive impairment (NC).

  Participants were older adults (N = 114) receiving day care services. A CI group (n = 57) was matched with an NC group (n = 57) for age and sex. Sarcopenia, cognitive status, nutritional status, and activities at home were assessed for each participant.

  There were no significant differences between the CI (50.8％) and NC groups (47.4％) in the prevalence of sarcopenia. Frequency of receiving day care services was significantly higher in participants of the CI group than in participants of the NC group (p＜.001). In the CI group, activities of daily living (p＜.001) and some activities at home (p＜.05) were significantly lower in participants with sarcopenia compared with participants without sarcopenia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that “being a woman,” “low nutritional status,” and “low frequency of going outdoors (other than to the day care center)” were significantly related to sarcopenia.

  This study suggests that improving nutrition and extending activity levels at home in women may prevent sarcopenia in older adults receiving day care services.