Depression Is Associated with Sarcopenia, Not Central Obesity, in Elderly Korean Men

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between depression and various components of body composition, including fat and muscle, in elderly Koreans. DESIGN: A cross-sectional sample of a longitudinal cohort from the Ansan Geriatric (AGE) Study. SETTING: Elderly people living in urban area (Ansan City, South Korea). PARTICIPANTS: Eight hundred thirty-six participants (378 male, 458 female) aged 60 and older were recruited from April 2006 to January 2008. MEASUREMENTS: Depressive symptoms were examined using the Korean version of the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS). Participants taking antidepressant medications or with a KGDS score of 14 or greater were classified as having depression. Abdominal visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area were assessed using single-slice computed tomography, and appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) and percentage body fat (%BF) were determined using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: Elderly men with depression had a lower ASM than those without depression (P = .01) after adjusting for age, body weight, and height. In men, the risk of depression was lower with higher body mass index (BMI) (odds ratio (OR) per 1-standard deviation (SD) increase = 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.51-0.96) after adjusting for all confounding variables and higher ASM (OR per 1-SD increase = 0.49; 95% CI = 0.29-0.85) after controlling for age, height, and weight. Similarly, depression was negatively associated with BMI in women (OR per 1-SD increase = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.56-0.95). Waist circumference, %BF, and VFA were not consistently associated with depression in men or women. CONCLUSION: Depression in elderly Koreans is associated with low body mass and sarcopenia, especially in men. J Am Geriatr Soc 59:2062-2068, 2011.