Sarcopenia and associated factors in older people living in rural riverside areas of the Amazon

Abstract Objective To estimate the prevalence of signs suggestive of sarcopenia and its associated factors in an older rural riverside population of the Amazon. Method A cross-sectional household-based study was carried out from April to June 2021 involving the universe of older people (age ≥60 years) living in nine rural communities on the banks of the Rio Negro, Manaus city, Amazonas state, Brazil. Signs suggestive of sarcopenia were identified using the Sarcopenia Formulary combined with calf circumference. Sociodemographic aspects, physical performance (static standing balance, gait speed at usual pace, and chair sit and stand), handgrip strength and self-reported health conditions (hypertension, diabetes, stroke, chronic low-back pain and multimorbidity) represented the explanatory variables. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to assess factors associated with signs suggestive of sarcopenia. Results Data from 98 older individuals (55.1% male) with a mean age of 69.6±7.4 years were analyzed. Results revealed that 50.5% had low handgrip strength, 52.6% disability/low physical performance and 43.0% multimorbidity. Sarcopenia was identified in 28.9% of participants and associated with higher age (PR=1.1; 95%CI=1.1-1.1) and greater number of residents in the household (PR=1.2; 95%CI=1.0-1.3). Conclusion The findings of the study showed a high prevalence of signs suggestive of sarcopenia (28.9%) among the population of older people in rural riverside areas of the Amazon, where higher mean age and greater number of residents in the household increased the probability of occurrence of this clinical condition. Resumo Objetivo Estimar a prevalência de sinais sugestivos de sarcopenia, bem como seus fatores associados, em pessoas idosas residentes em comunidades rurais ribeirinhas de Manaus. Método Estudo transversal de base domiciliar conduzido de abril a junho de 2021 com o universo de pessoas idosas (≥60 anos) que residiam em nove comunidades rurais ribeirinhas do rio Negro, Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil. Os sinais sugestivos de sarcopenia foram identificados por meio do Sarcopenia Formulary combinado à circunferência da panturrilha. Os aspectos sociodemográficos, o desempenho físico (equilíbrio estático em pé, velocidade de marcha em passo habitual e força muscular dos membros inferiores), a força de preensão palmar e as condições de saúde autorreferidas (hipertensão, diabetes, acidente vascular encefálico, dor lombar crônica e multimorbidade) repres