Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jul 6, 2021; 9(19): 5092-5101
Published online Jul 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i19.5092
Sarcopenia in geriatric patients from the plateau region of Qinghai-Tibet: A cross-sectional study
Shi-Qin Pan, Yue-Mei Li, Xiao-Fang Li, Rui Xiong
Shi-Qin Pan, Yue-Mei Li, Xiao-Fang Li, Rui Xiong, Department of Nursing, Qinghai Provincial People’s Hospital, Xining 810007, Qinghai Province, China
Author contributions: Pan SQ performed the conceptualization, roles and writing the original draft; Li YM performed the project administration, writing, review and editing; Li XF performed data curation; Xiong R performed the investigation.
Supported by Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, No. 2018PT33001.
Institutional review board statement: This cross-sectional study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Qinghai Provincial People’s Hospital and conducted in compliance with the guidelines stated in the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shi-Qin Pan, MD, Nurse, Department of Nursing, Qinghai Provincial People’s Hospital, No. 2 Gonghe Road of East Area, Xining 810007, Qinghai Province, China. 289662520@qq.com
Received: February 19, 2021
Peer-review started: February 19, 2021
First decision: March 25, 2021
Revised: April 8, 2021
Accepted: April 20, 2021
Article in press: April 20, 2021
Published online: July 6, 2021
Processing time: 124 Days and 23.8 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The prevalence of sarcopenia in non-hospitalized elderly people was 9.0%-18.5% in the plain region. However, epidemiological investigations of sarcopenia in plateau regions are limited. The city of Xining in Qinghai Province (altitude 2260 m) is the sole point of access to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, where people live with diverse ethnicities and dietary habits including high salt and fat intake, brewed tea, and ghee, beef, and mutton.

Research motivation

We explored how diverse ethnicities and dietary habits affect the risk of sarcopenia. Beef and mutton have high protein content and high protein intake was previously reported as protective against sarcopenia.

Research objectives

To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of sarcopenia in geriatric patients from the Qinghai-Tibet plateau region.

Research methods

Data included demographics, history of falls, nutritional status, self-care ability, depression, handgrip, muscle mass, and 6-m gait speed. The independent-sample t-test and chi-squared test were used to evaluate differences between groups with and without sarcopenia. Factors associated with sarcopenia were determined by binary logistic regression analysis. A P-value < 0.05 was considered a significant difference.

Research results

The overall rate of sarcopenia was 20%. Widowhood was associated with sarcopenia, while higher body mass index and beef and mutton consumption were protective.

Research conclusions

The prevalence of sarcopenia in hospitalized geriatric patients in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau region was higher than that in the plain region and in non-hospitalized geriatric people. Ethnicity, and consumption of brewed tea or ghee have no significant effect on sarcopenia. Consumption of beef and mutton is protective against sarcopenia.

Research perspectives

We plan to explore diagnostic cut-off points in Xining City based on big data, and a risk assessment system will be developed.