Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population and their sarcopenia status
| Characteristicsb | Total N = 387 |
No Sarcopenia n = 163 |
Pre-sarcopenia n = 118 |
Sarcopenia n = 91 |
Severe sarcopenia n = 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years(mean/SD) | 68.3(5.7) | 66.5(4.4) | 68.0(5.0) | 70.4(6.2) | 78.3(5.3) |
| 60–69 | 245 (63.3) | 129 (79.1) | 73 (61.9) | 42 (46.2) | 1 (6.7) |
| 70 and above | 142 (36.7) | 34 (20.9) | 45 (38.1) | 49 (53.8) | 14 (93.3) |
| Gender | |||||
| Female | 181 (46.8) | 57 (35.0) | 63 (53.4) | 50 (54.9) | 11 (73.3) |
| Male | 206 (53.2) | 106 (65.0) | 55 (46.6) | 41 (45.1) | 4 (26.7) |
| Ethnicity | |||||
| Chinese | 266 (68.7) | 91 (55.8) | 91 (77.1) | 70 (76.9) | 14 (93.3) |
| Malay | 64 (16.5) | 36 (22.1) | 17 (14.4) | 11 (12.1) | 0 (0.0) |
| Indian | 31 (8.0) | 18 (11.0) | 6 (5.1) | 6 (6.6) | 1 (3.2) |
| Others | 26 (6.7) | 18 (11.0) | 4 (3.4) | 4 (4.4) | 0 (0.0) |
| Marital status | |||||
| Married | 318 (82.2) | 141 (86.5) | 96 (81.4) | 72 (79.1) | 9 (60.0) |
| Single | 15 (3.9) | 6 (3.7) | 5 (4.2) | 4 (4.4) | 0 (0.0) |
| Divorced/Separated | 15 (3.9) | 8 (4.9) | 4 (3.4) | 3 (3.3) | 0 (0.0) |
| Widowed | 39 (10.1) | 8 (4.9) | 13 (11.0) | 12 (13.2) | 6 (40.0) |
| Highest Qualification | |||||
| Up to primary education | 92 (23.8) | 29 (17.8) | 31 (26.3) | 22 (24.2) | 10 (66.7) |
| Secondary education and beyond | 295 (76.2) | 134 (82.2) | 87 (73.7) | 69 (75.8) | 5 (33.3) |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| Hypertension/ High blood pressure | |||||
| Yes | 339 (87.6) | 147 (90.2) | 97 (82.2) | 82 (90.1) | 13 (86.7) |
| No | 48 (12.4) | 16 (9.8) | 21 (17.8) | 9 (9.9) | 2 (13.3) |
| Hyperlipidemia/ High Cholesterol | |||||
| Yes | 373 (96.4) | 159 (97.5) | 114 (96.6) | 85 (93.4) | 15 (100) |
| No | 14 (3.6) | 4 (2.5) | 4 (3.4) | 6 (6.6) | 0 (0) |
| Ischemic Heart Disease | |||||
| Yes | 74 (19.1) | 32 (19.6) | 15 (12.7) | 20 (22) | 7 (46.7) |
| No | 313 (80.9) | 131 (80.4) | 103 (87.3) | 71 (78) | 8 (53.3) |
| Chronic kidney disease | |||||
| Yes | 67 (17.3) | 28 (17.2) | 14 (11.9) | 18 (19.8) | 7 (46.7) |
| No | 320 (82.7) | 135 (82.8) | 104 (88.1) | 73 (80.2) | 8 (53.3) |
| Anaemia | |||||
| Yes | 31 (8) | 10 (6.1) | 6 (5.1) | 10 (11) | 5 (33.3) |
| No | 356 (92) | 153 (93.9) | 112 (94.9) | 81 (89) | 10 (66.7) |
| a Others | |||||
| Yes | 240 (62.0) | 100 (41.7) | 63 (26.3) | 64 (26.7) | 13 (5.4) |
| No | 147 (38.0) | 63 (42.9) | 55 (37.4) | 27 (18.4) | 2 (1.4) |
| Total number of medical conditions | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–5) | 4 (4–5) | 6 (5–8) |
| Total number of long term medications | 6 (4–8) | 6 (5–8) | 5.5 (4–7) | 6 (5–8) | 7 (6–8) |
| Type of dwelling | |||||
| Public housing (Rental flat/1-3room) | 54 (14.0) | 19 (11.7) | 16 (13.6) | 17 (18.7) | 2 (13.3) |
| Public housing (4–5 room) | 287 (74.2) | 129 (79.1) | 84 (71.2) | 65 (71.4) | 9 (60.0) |
| Condominium/Private property | 46 (11.9) | 15 (9.2) | 18 (15.3) | 9 (9.9) | 4 (26.7) |
| Living | |||||
| Alone | 16 (4.1) | 5 (3.1) | 6 (5.1) | 4 (4.4) | 1 (6.7) |
| With family | 367 (96.8) | 156 (95.7) | 111 (94.1) | 87 (95.6) | 13 (86.7) |
| With assistance from domestic helper | 4 (1.0) | 2 (1.2) | 1 (0.8) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (6.7) |
| Medical subsidy | |||||
| Public assistance | 106 (27.4) | 49 (30.1) | 29 (24.6) | 24 (26.4) | 4 (26.7) |
| Waiver of medical fee | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
aOthers include Asthma, Cateract, Osteoarthritis, Gout etc
bContinuous variables reported as mean ± SD; Categorical variables reported as frequency (%)