ArticleBMC geriatrics2026
Sarcopenia trajectories and associated factors in older adults: evidence from the China health and retirement longitudinal study.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Changes in Sarcopenia and Incident Depression in Prospective Cohorts.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Sarcopenia trajectories and associated factors after lung transplantation: a growth mixture model study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundSarcopenia is a dynamic and reversible condition, yet its longitudinal changes remain unclear.
methodsUsing three waves of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, sarcopenia status was assessed in 2,945 older adults based on the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 criteria. Growth mixture modeling identified distinct sarcopenia trajectories, and multinomial regression examined associated factors.
resultsThe stages of sarcopenia changed over 4 years with both possible worsening and improving transitions. Four trajectories were identified: persistent low risk (59.86%, n = 1763), persistent high risk (26.62%, n = 784), low but increasing risk (6.89%, n = 203), and high but decreasing risk (6.63%, n = 195). Respondents classified with persistent low risk trajectory were likely to be younger, male, and being overweight or obesity. Individuals who smoked were more likely to belong to the low but increasing-risk [Odds ratio (OR) = 1.635, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.123–2.379] and persistent high risk trajectory (OR = 1.567, 95% CI: 1.176–2.088). Conversely, those with a drinking habit had lower odds of being in the low but increasing-risk trajectory and were more likely to remain in the persistent low-risk group (OR = 0.574, 95% CI: 0.395–0.834). Being underweight was strongly associated with the persistent high risk (OR = 87.339, 95% CI: 52.266–145.950) and high but decreasing risk trajectory (OR = 32.150, 95% CI: 18.613–55.532), while cognitive impairment showed a slight inverse association with persistent high risk trajectory (OR = 0.968, 95% CI: 0.944–0.992) compared with persistent low risk trajectory. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This study identified four trajectories of sarcopenia in Chinses older adults. Persistent high and low but increasing sarcopenia trajectories should be prioritized for intervention. It is necessary to develop tailored intervention strategies to improve cognitive function, especially for older adults with advancing age, female sex, smoking habit, and underweight to reduce the risk of worsening sarcopenia trajectories.
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