Sarcopenic obesity is a combination of both, sarcopenia and obesity, which potentiate each other and maximize the negative influences of either, such as physical disability, morbidity and even mortality.

The goal of a new study published in Experimental Gerontology was to describe the criteria used to identify people with sarcopenic obesity and components of non-pharmacological interventions used to manage it, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of those interventions.

This was a systemic review and meta-analysis of RCTs from Cochrane Library, Scopus, EMBASE, PscyINFO, CINAHL and PubMed. The risk of bias was examined using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. The template for intervention description and replication (TIDieR) checklist was used to summarize the intervention components. Meta-analyses were conducted using random-effect models to pool estimates of the effects of the non-pharmacological interventions on body composition, BMI, grip strength and gait speed.

Overall, 12 RCTs with 863 participants were included diverse diagnostic criteria and four categories of interventions were used – exercise (aerobic exercises, resistance exercises and exercise machines); nutritional interventions (supplements or dietary control); combined intervention; and electrical acupuncture. Intervention durations varied from 8-28 weeks. The results revealed that exercise with or without nutritional interventions had significant effects on the grip strength and gait speed. Additionally, exercise had significant effects on reducing the percentage of body fat (PBF) compared to usual care. However, exercise combined with nutritional interventions showed no superiority over exercise alone, on decreasing the PBF. On the other hand, exercise with nutritional interventions had significant effects on increasing the appendicular skeletal muscle mass. Low-caloric high-protein diets showed no superiority over low-caloric, low-protein diets in increasing fat-free mass. It was noted that using different formulas to estimate the skeletal muscle mass index could lead to significant differences in determining the effects of exercise on grip strength.

It was concluded that the diagnostic criteria for sarcopenic obesity used in future studies should refer to the latest consensus definition. Exercise tended to be the most effective method of improving the grip strength and physical performance – for example, gait speed.

Source: Experimental Gerontology. 2020 Mar 30:110937. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2020.110937.