Status of Constipation and Its Association with Sarcopenia in Older Adults: A Population-Based Cohort Study

(1) Background: As the clinical relevance of constipation and sarcopenia is not well studied, we aimed to investigate the association between them in older adults. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1278 community-dwelling older adults in South Korea. The Rome IV criteria were use...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hyungchul Park, Jihye Lim, Ji Yeon Baek, Eunju Lee, Hee-Won Jung, Il-Young Jang
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: MDPI AG 2021
Subjects:
R
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/f8c3edf18e4246efbd1afe9d57dc7906
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:(1) Background: As the clinical relevance of constipation and sarcopenia is not well studied, we aimed to investigate the association between them in older adults. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1278 community-dwelling older adults in South Korea. The Rome IV criteria were used to identify patients with clinically defined constipation, while sarcopenia was defined by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia consensus. The cohort was classified into three groups: no constipation, self-reported constipation only, and clinically defined constipation. (3) Results: The presence of constipation was associated with sarcopenia and slow gait speed (<i>p</i> < 0.001). After adjustment for possible covariates, the association with sarcopenia attenuated, while that for slow gait speed persisted. In terms of geriatric parameters, both groups with clinically defined and self-reported constipation had a higher burden of cognitive impairment, IADL disability, and lower QOL scores (<i>p</i> < 0.05) compared with those without constipation. (4) Conclusions: Sarcopenia and slow gait speed associated with constipation in community-dwelling older adults. Individuals with self-reported constipation symptoms alone showed comparable sarcopenic and geriatric burden to those with clinically defined constipation. Clinical suspicion for possible co-existing sarcopenia is warranted in older patients with constipation.