RESULTS
Demographic and clinical data are presented in Table 1. While 109
subjects (46.8%) had no comorbid disease; 93 (75.0%) had one, 21
(16.9%) had two, eight (6.5%) had three and two (1.6%) had four
comorbid diseases. Age and waist circumference were similar between the
genders (both p>0.05). While BMI and hip circumference were
lower, anterior thigh muscle thickness was higher in males as compared
to females (all p<0.001). The presences of hypertension,
diabetes mellitus, chronic lung disease, presarcopenia and sarcopenia
were similar between the genders (all p>0.05). However, the
frequencies of coronary artery disease and smoking were more in males
than in females (both p<0.05). Additionally, males had better
grip strength and performance test (i.e. CST and gait speed) values than
females (all p<0.001).
Comparisons of the clinical data regarding hypertension are given in
Table 2. 28.7% of hypertensive patients (31 out of 108) and 3.2% of
normotensive subjects (four out of 125) had sarcopenia
(p<0.001). In middle-aged adults; the presence of diabetes
mellitus and low physical performance (i.e. CST and gait speed) were
more frequent in hypertensive vs. normotensive subjects (all
p<0.05). In older adults; the presence of diabetes mellitus,
coronary artery disease, low CST, presarcopenia and sarcopenia were more
frequent in hypertensive vs. normotensive subjects (all
p<0.01). Further, hip circumference was higher in hypertensive
vs. normotensive older adults (p<0.001). Overall, although
statistically insignificant (p=0.062), females were more prevalent in
the hypertensive older adults.
Subgroup analysis of older adults with hypertension (N=87) revealed that
sarcopenia (N=29) was less prevalent (p=0.020) in patients using ACE
inhibitors (2/22 patients, 9.1%) than those using angiotensin receptor
blockers (ARBs) (15/37 patients, 40.5%) and other antihypertensive
drugs (i.e. alpha/beta blockers, diuretics, calcium channel blockers)
(12/28 patients, 42.9%) (Fig. 2). When age, gender, BMI, and presence
of smoking and aforementioned comorbid diseases were taken into binary
logistic regression analyses; only the presence of hypertension seemed
to independently predict the development of sarcopenia in older adults
[OR=7.9 (95% CI: 2.6-24.5, p<0.001)].