Clinical Definitions of Sarcopenia and Risk of Hospitalization in Community-Dwelling Older Men: The Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study

Background: The association between various definitions of sarcopenia and hospitalization has not been evaluated in community-dwelling older men. Methods: We used data from 1,516 participants at Visit 3 of the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study who also had linked Medicare Fee-For-Service Claims data available. We examined the association between several sarcopenia definitions (International Working Group, European Working Group for Sarcopenia in Older Persons, Foundation for the NIH Sarcopenia Project, Baumgartner, and Newman) and hospitalization, using two-part ("hurdle") models, adjusted for age, clinical center, functional limitations, self-reported health, comorbidity, and cognitive function. Predictors included sarcopenia status (the summary definitions and the components of slowness, weakness, and/or lean mass); outcomes included hospitalization and cumulative inpatient days/year in the 3 years following the Visit 3 exam. Results: After accounting for confounding factors, none of the summary definitions or the definition components (slowness, weakness, or low lean mass) were associated with likelihood of hospitalization, the rate ratio of inpatient days among those hospitalized, or the mean rate of inpatient days amongst all participants. Conclusions: Sarcopenia was not associated hospitalization in community-dwelling older men. These results provide further evidence that current sarcopenia definitions are unlikely to identify those who are most likely to have greater hospitalization.