Abstract
Introduction: Muscle wasting is a severe problem in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Recent reports suggest that airflow limitation (AL) is present in community-dwelling older adults.
Aim: To analyze the relation between AL and the skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) in Japanese community-dwelling older men by performing a cross-sectional study.
Methods: The study included 121 men aged ≥65 years. The age, body mass index (BMI), smoking history, medical history, pulmonary function, motor function, SMI, and physical activity (PA) of each participant were obtained. AL was defined as FEV1/FVC%< 70%, and the participants were divided into 2 groups: with AL and without AL. The SMI was calculated using bioelectrical impedance analysis. PA was determined by measuring the daily number of steps with a pedometer for 2 weeks and using the mean. The differences in demographic characteristics between the groups were analyzed. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether AL is independently associated with a reduced SMI adjusted by age, medical history, and PA.
Results: AL was present in 29 (24.0%) participants. While age, smoking history, and motor function were not significantly different between the groups, BMI (P < 0.01), SMI (with AL: 6.9 ± 0.7 kg/m2; without AL: 7.5 ± 0.7 kg/m2; P < 0.01), and PA (P < 0.05) were significantly lower in those with AL than in those without AL. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis showed that AL (β = -0.329; P = 0.001; 95% CI: -0.874, -0.219) was significantly associated with a reduced SMI.
Conclusions: Our data showed that AL is associated with a reduced SMI in community-dwelling older men.
- © 2014 ERS
