Prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly users of the primary health care system

Objective: to identify the prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly primary care users, and the relationship of nutritional status with sarcopenia. Material and methods: the study was a cross-sectional study with elderly users of the primary health care network. The participants were evaluated for the diagnosis of sarcopenia, which involved calculation of muscle mass, grip strength, and walking speed, as well as sociodemographic, anthropometric and nutritional variables. Nutritional status was evaluated through the body mass index (BMI) and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) instrument. The study was conduted at eleven family health centers in Marau, Rio Grande do Sul, and included elderly subjects aged 65 years and over (n = 148). Results: of the elderly subjects evaluated, 72.3 % were female; mean age was 73.6 years (SD: 5.5), ranging from 65 to 89 years. The prevalence of sarcopenia was 14.2 %, 47.3 % of the sample had low manual grip strength, and 53.7 % had inadequate walking speed. Regarding BMI, 10.8 % of participants were classified as underweight, and 75 % of these were diagnosed with sarcopenia. Sarcopenia was significantly associated with the oldest age group (p = 0.046) and with higher BMI (p < 0.001). Conclusions: results show the importance of assessing nutritional status and a potential diagnosis of sarcopenia, mainly since this syndrome is highly associated with inappropriate food intake, which is often impaired among the elderly because of economical and/or physiological reasons.