ORIGINAL ARTICLE Prevalence and associated factors of sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia in older Taiwanese living in rural community: The Tianliao Old People study 04 Chih-Hsing Wu, 1,9 Kuan-Ting Chen, 2 Meng-Tzu Hou, 3 Yin-Fan Chang, 1 Chin-Sung Chang, 1,8 Ping-Yen Liu, 4,8 Shin-Jiuan Wu, 5 Ching-Ju Chiu, 9 I-Ming Jou 6 and Chuan-Yu Chen 7 1 Department of Family Medicine, 4 Department of Internal Medicine, 6 Department of Orthopedics, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, 2 Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, 8 Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 5 Department of Food and Nutrition, Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology, Tainan, 9 Institute of Gerontology, National Cheng Kung University Medical College, Tainan, 3 Department of Physical Therapy and Assistive Technology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, and 7 Department of Community Medicine, St. Martin De Poress Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan Aim: The aim of the present study was to show the prevalence and associated factors of sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia in rural community-dwelling older Taiwanese. Methods: Using the whole community sampling method, a total of 285 men and 264 women aged over 65 years were randomly sampled (response rate = 50%) from Tianliao District, southern Taiwan, in 2012. Participants were interviewed by trained investigators to complete a validated structural questionnaire. Body composition was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis, and skeletal muscle mass was estimated by Janssen’s equation. The Mini- Nutritional Assessment (MNA) score, Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, grip strength, gait speed and short physical performance battery (SPPB) were obtained by the standard procedures. Sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia were defined according to the 2010 consensus of the Report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Results: Of the 549 study participants, 39 (7.1%) were classified as having sarcopenia and 31 (5.6%) participants were classified as having severe sarcopenia. Using multiple logistic regression models, the age, sex, working status, waist circumference, body mass index, hypertensive history, MNA and SPPB score were independently associated with different stages of sarcopenia. Conclusions: Approximately one-fifth of community-dwelling older adults were facing the threat of sarcopenia in southern Taiwan. The older age, female sex, lower body mass index, higher waist circumference, a history of hypertension, lower MNA or SPPB score and not working regularly were associated factors for either sarcopenia or severe sarcopenia. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2014; 14 (Suppl. 1): 69–75. Keywords: bioelectrical impedance analysis, Mini-Nutritional Assessment, short physical performance battery, skeletal muscle mass. Introduction Sarcopenia is named to reflect the status of decreased skeletal muscle mass (SMM) in aging people. 1 As the SMM is one of the major human body components responsible for daily activities, sarcopenia has an influ- ence on self-independence in activities of daily living, such as eating, taking a shower and walking, 2–5 and results in adverse outcomes, including falls, hip frac- tures, comorbidities 6–8 and mortality. 9,10 Therefore, the importance of sarcopenia is increasingly emphasized in the aging society worldwide. 6,11,12 It is believed that sarcopenia is an economic burden for both caregivers and the healthcare system in an aging society. 12 However, there are still limited studies or inconsistent prevalence of sarcopenia in Chinese populations. 3,5,9,13–18 In contrast, most of the reports were Accepted for publication 2 December 2013. Correspondence: Dr Chih-Hsing Wu MD, Department of Family Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan, 70428, Taiwan. Email: paulo@mail.ncku.edu.tw Geriatr Gerontol Int 2014; 14 (Suppl. 1): 69–75 © 2014 Japan Geriatrics Society doi: 10.1111/ggi.12233 | 69