Table 2.

Unadjusted Mean Telomere Length and Death Rates by Sarcopenia Definition

	ALM Definition			ALM:BMI Definition
Age Group	Present	Absent	P-value*	Present	Absent	p-value
Age > 60 years	0.90±0.02	0.92±0.02	0.09	0.88±0.02	0.92±0.02	0.004
60–69.9 years	0.96±0.02	0.96±0.02	0.86	0.96±0.03	0.96±0.02	0.89
70–79.9 years	0.90±0.03	0.87±0.02	0.36	0.85±0.03	0.88±0.02	0.11
80+ years	0.82±0.02	0.86±0.02	0.02	0.81±0.02	0.86±0.02	0.02
p-value#	<0.001	<0.001	----	<0.001	<0.001	----
	ALM Definition			ALM:BMI Definition
Deaths	Present	Absent	P-value	Present	Absent	p-value
Overall	380 (46.4)	640 (33.4)	<0.001	288 (46.7)	668 (33.2)	<0.001
Cardiovascular	116 (12.6)	156 (7.7)	0.012	95 (14.0)	155 (7.1)	0.008

All values are mean ± standard error. Data are weighted according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey protocol

ALM: Appendicular lean mass

ALM defined sarcopenia is defined as an appendicular lean mass <19.75 in men, or <15.02 in females;

ALM:BMI defined sarcopenia is defined as ALM:BMI ratio <0.789 and <0.512.

^#p-value represents the difference between age categories (60–69.9, 70–79.9, 80+)

^*p-value represents difference in telomere length in subjects with/without sarcopenia