Sarcopenia and All-Cause Mortality Risk in Community-Dwelling Rural Malaysian Older Adults

Sarcopenia is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, including frailty, disability, and mortality. Since the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 guidelines, which were published in 2020, are relatively new, studies on the association between sarcopenia as defined by these guidelines and mortality are limited in the Asian region. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine the all-cause mortality risk associated with sarcopenia among community-dwelling older adults in rural Malaysia. This cohort study included 2404 older adults residing in Kuala Pilah District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia who were followed up for 83 months. The prevalence rates of sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia were 5.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.00-5.90) and 3.60% (95% CI: 2.84-4.31), respectively. Older adults with sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia had a 114% (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.59-2.87) and 146% (HR: 2.46; 95% CI: 1.79-3.39) increased mortality risk compared with those without sarcopenia (HR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.59-2.87). Our findings indicate that early intervention is recommended to prevent sarcopenia in older adults.