Relationship Between Sarcopenia and Peripheral and Respiratory Muscle Strength in Geriatric Individuals

Population aging is a significant global trend, with projections indicating that by 2050, 1 in 6 individuals worldwide will be over 65 years old, compared to 1 in 11 in 2019. In Turkey, the elderly population is expected to rise to 11.0% by 2025 and reach 25.6% by 2080. Sarcopenia, characterized by the progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and function due to aging, affects approximately 29% of older adults in community healthcare settings. It is associated with various pathophysiological processes, leading to negative health outcomes like falls and frailty. The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) established diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia based on muscle mass, strength, and physical performance in 2010, later revised in 2018 (EWGSOP2), emphasizing low muscle strength as the primary diagnostic criterion. The SARC-F questionnaire is recommended for confirming sarcopenia, with a score of ≥ 4 indicating the condition. The concept of respiratory sarcopenia, introduced in 2021, refers to the loss of respiratory muscle mass and strength alongside general body sarcopenia, though measuring respiratory muscle mass can be complex. Respiratory muscle strength can be assessed through mouth pressure measurement, but a consensus on the methodology is still lacking. Overall, there is insufficient research on the relationship between peripheral and respiratory muscle weakness and sarcopenia in the elderly. This study aims to explore this relationship further.