Sarcopenia and blood albumin: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Sarcopenia is characterized by loss of muscle mass during aging, which can have consequences for the individuals' health. There are many ways to detect it, among them, with the use of blood biomarkers such as albumin, although the association between the two has not been confirmed yet. This review synthesizes the knowledge on the association between sarcopenia and serum albumin among elderly individuals through a systematic review and meta-analysis focused on the etiology and risk factors. We used the Joanna Briggs Institute software for the review and conducted a search in MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and LILACS databases while two reviewers conducted an independent manual search. EpiDat, version 3.1 was used for the meta-analysis; mean differences with the albumin scores disaggregated by sarcopenia were analyzed by the random-effects model. The degree of heterogeneity was assessed with the DerSimonian and Laird Q test. We analyzed 630 articles and finally included 14 in the review. Higher blood albumin levels were found in the meta-analysis, which was statistically significant among the elderly adults who did not present sarcopenia compared to those who did. Although there are studies exploring the association between albumin and sarcopenia, there is a need to continue evaluating its association with biological markers and comparing them to verify which can be used to detect sarcopenia among the elderly.