Alcohol consumption may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults

The relationship between drinking and sarcopenia remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of alcohol drinking with sarcopenia in the older adults. A prospective study with 5244 Chinese community-dwelling older adults aged ≥65 years was performed. Sarcope...

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Main Authors: En-Hui Mao, Yun-Ling Bu, Qiao-Ling Liu, Jin-Shui Xu, Xiang Lu, Xi-Lan Yang, Wei Gao, Zheng-Kai Shen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Experimental Biology and Medicine
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Online Access:https://www.ebm-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ebm.2025.10520/full
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author En-Hui Mao
Yun-Ling Bu
Qiao-Ling Liu
Jin-Shui Xu
Xiang Lu
Xi-Lan Yang
Wei Gao
Zheng-Kai Shen
author_facet En-Hui Mao
Yun-Ling Bu
Qiao-Ling Liu
Jin-Shui Xu
Xiang Lu
Xi-Lan Yang
Wei Gao
Zheng-Kai Shen
author_sort En-Hui Mao
collection DOAJ
description The relationship between drinking and sarcopenia remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of alcohol drinking with sarcopenia in the older adults. A prospective study with 5244 Chinese community-dwelling older adults aged ≥65 years was performed. Sarcopenia was assessed by appendicular skeletal muscle mass index, grip strength, and gait speed. A quantitative questionnaire was used to obtain the information of alcohol drinking. After 4-year follow-up, our study showed that drinkers had lower incidence of sarcopenia than those non-drinkers (19.4% vs. 30.4%, P < 0.001 in males and 9.5% vs. 20.4%, P = 0.004 in females, respectively). Moreover, male drinkers had higher levels of muscle mass [median (IQR): 7.3 (6.7–7.9) kg/m2 vs. 7.1 (6.5–7.7) kg/m2, P < 0.001] grip strength [median (IQR): 31.1 (26.5–35.0) kg vs. 29.6 (24.8–38.8) kg, P < 0.001], and gait speed [median (IQR): 1.08 (0.98–1.17) m/s vs. 1.05 (0.94–1.15) m/s, P < 0.001] than those non-drinkers, while female drinkers had higher gait speed [median (IQR): 1.02 (0.94–1.11) m/s vs. 0.99 (0.89–1.09) m/s, P = 0.031] than those non-drinkers. Multivariate logistic regression showed that in older adults younger than 85 years, both interim drinking (RR = 0.60; 95%CI = 0.39–0.93; P = 0.021 for males; RR = 0.36; 95%CI = 0.13–0.90; P = 0.035 for females) and daily drinking (RR = 0.78; 95%CI = 0.61–0.99; P = 0.045 for males; RR = 0.34; 95%CI = 0.12–0.96; P = 0.041 for females) were correlated with decreased risk of sarcopenia even after adjustment for confounding factors. However, our dose-response analysis did not show any significant relationship between daily alcohol intake and the risk of sarcopenia as well as the components of sarcopenia. In conclusion, our results indicated that alcohol drinking may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults. Further research will help to understand the underlying mechanism of the observed causal relationship.
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spelling doaj-art-e03087a4de8d40f3b59bec91aac2686f2025-08-20T03:22:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Experimental Biology and Medicine1535-36992025-05-0125010.3389/ebm.2025.1052010520Alcohol consumption may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adultsEn-Hui Mao0Yun-Ling Bu1Qiao-Ling Liu2Jin-Shui Xu3Xiang Lu4Xi-Lan Yang5Wei Gao6Zheng-Kai Shen7Department of Endocrinology, Danyang Hospital of Traditional Medicine, Danyang, ChinaDepartment of General Practice, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, ChinaDepartment of Geriatrics, The First People’s Hospital of Lianyungang, Lianyungang, ChinaJiangsu Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing, ChinaDepartment of Geriatrics, Sir Run Run Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, ChinaDepartment of General Practice, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, ChinaDepartment of Geriatrics, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, ChinaJiangsu Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing, ChinaThe relationship between drinking and sarcopenia remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of alcohol drinking with sarcopenia in the older adults. A prospective study with 5244 Chinese community-dwelling older adults aged ≥65 years was performed. Sarcopenia was assessed by appendicular skeletal muscle mass index, grip strength, and gait speed. A quantitative questionnaire was used to obtain the information of alcohol drinking. After 4-year follow-up, our study showed that drinkers had lower incidence of sarcopenia than those non-drinkers (19.4% vs. 30.4%, P < 0.001 in males and 9.5% vs. 20.4%, P = 0.004 in females, respectively). Moreover, male drinkers had higher levels of muscle mass [median (IQR): 7.3 (6.7–7.9) kg/m2 vs. 7.1 (6.5–7.7) kg/m2, P < 0.001] grip strength [median (IQR): 31.1 (26.5–35.0) kg vs. 29.6 (24.8–38.8) kg, P < 0.001], and gait speed [median (IQR): 1.08 (0.98–1.17) m/s vs. 1.05 (0.94–1.15) m/s, P < 0.001] than those non-drinkers, while female drinkers had higher gait speed [median (IQR): 1.02 (0.94–1.11) m/s vs. 0.99 (0.89–1.09) m/s, P = 0.031] than those non-drinkers. Multivariate logistic regression showed that in older adults younger than 85 years, both interim drinking (RR = 0.60; 95%CI = 0.39–0.93; P = 0.021 for males; RR = 0.36; 95%CI = 0.13–0.90; P = 0.035 for females) and daily drinking (RR = 0.78; 95%CI = 0.61–0.99; P = 0.045 for males; RR = 0.34; 95%CI = 0.12–0.96; P = 0.041 for females) were correlated with decreased risk of sarcopenia even after adjustment for confounding factors. However, our dose-response analysis did not show any significant relationship between daily alcohol intake and the risk of sarcopenia as well as the components of sarcopenia. In conclusion, our results indicated that alcohol drinking may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults. Further research will help to understand the underlying mechanism of the observed causal relationship.https://www.ebm-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ebm.2025.10520/fullalcoholsarcopeniaolder adultscommunity-dwellingodds ratio
spellingShingle En-Hui Mao
Yun-Ling Bu
Qiao-Ling Liu
Jin-Shui Xu
Xiang Lu
Xi-Lan Yang
Wei Gao
Zheng-Kai Shen
Alcohol consumption may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults
Experimental Biology and Medicine
alcohol
sarcopenia
older adults
community-dwelling
odds ratio
title Alcohol consumption may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults
title_full Alcohol consumption may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults
title_fullStr Alcohol consumption may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults
title_full_unstemmed Alcohol consumption may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults
title_short Alcohol consumption may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults
title_sort alcohol consumption may not be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the older adults
topic alcohol
sarcopenia
older adults
community-dwelling
odds ratio
url https://www.ebm-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ebm.2025.10520/full
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