Sarcopenia Screened with SARC-F and Subjective Memory Complaints Are Independently Associated with Increased Risk of Incident Dementia among Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults

ObjectivesThe main aim of this study was to examine the association of sarcopenia and subjective memory complaints with the incidence of dementia in a population-based cohort of cognitively unimpaired older adults.DesignThree-year longitudinal study.Settings and ParticipantsA total of 2163 community-dwelling persons aged 65 years or older who participated in the National Health Interview Survey in Taiwan, 2017.MeasurementsSarcopenia was determined based on SARC-F, a self-reported symptom-based questionnaire that includes five components: strength, assistance walking, rise from a chair, climb stairs, and falls. Two questions (Do you have difficulties with your memory or attention? and Do you have difficulties with your memory only or attention only or both?) were used to screen for subjective memory complaints (SMCs). The incidence of dementia was determined by data linkage to the Taiwan National Health Insurance claims database from 2018 to 2020.ResultsAmong the 2163 participants without dementia at baseline, 135 had incident dementia during the 3-year follow-up, giving a crude incidence rate of 6.2% (135/2163). Compared to participants free from sarcopenia and SMCs, the adjusted hazard ratio for incident dementia was 1.83 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23-2.72) for SMCs alone, 2.40 (95% CI: 1.17-4.93) for sarcopenia alone, and 2.49 (95% CI: 1.21-5.11) for coexisting SMCs and sarcopenia.ConclusionsOur results indicate that sarcopenia screened with SARC-F and SMCs independently predict the cognitively unimpaired older adults at risk of incident dementia. Our findings highlight the importance of screening not only for cognitive but also muscle deficits to identify those at increased risk of incident dementia.

Automated summary

The study aimed to investigate the association between sarcopenia and subjective memory complaints with the incidence of dementia. The results showed that both subjective memory complaints and sarcopenia independently predict the risk of incident dementia in cognitively unimpaired older adults.