Abstract
Objective
Although older inpatients are known to develop various conditions, whether aging affects
intramuscular adipose tissue in older inpatients remains unclear. In particular, an
increase in intramuscular adipose tissue in persons aged ≥85 years has previously
not been revealed in either older inpatients or community-dwelling older individuals.
This study therefore aimed to examine whether aging affects intramuscular adipose
tissue in older inpatients.
Design
Cross-sectional study.
Setting and Participants
This study was clinical-based and included 404 inpatients aged ≥65 years.
Methods
We divided the participants into the following age groups: 65–74 years (n = 63), 75–84 years
(n = 171), and ≥85 years (n = 170). B-mode ultrasound imaging was performed, and the
intramuscular adipose tissue of the quadriceps was assessed based on echo intensity.
One-way analysis of variance and analysis of covariance were used to compare the echo
intensity of the quadriceps between the 65–74-year, 75–84-year, and ≥85-year groups.
Results
The median (25th–75th percentile) ages of the 65–74-year group, 75–84-year group,
and ≥85-year group were 70.0 (68.0-73.0), 80.0 (77.0-82.0), and 89.0 (87.0-91.0),
respectively. In the one-way analysis of variance, the quadriceps echo intensity of
the ≥85-year group was significantly higher than that of the 65–74-year and 75–84-year
groups. In addition, the ≥85-year group had significantly higher quadriceps echo intensity
than the 65–74-year group, even after adjusting for other confounding factors.
Conclusions and Implications
The current study revealed that intramuscular adipose tissue in older inpatients increases
with age, and the levels of intramuscular adipose tissue of older inpatients aged
≥85 years is higher than those of older inpatients aged 65–74 years.
Keywords
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- Ultrasonography in the intensive care setting can be used to detect changes in the quality and quantity of muscle and is related to muscle strength and function.J Crit Care. 2015; 30: 1151.e9-1151.e14
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- Echo intensity independently predicts functionality in sedentary older men.Muscle Nerve. 2017; 55: 9-15
- Relationships of muscle echo intensity with walking ability and physical activity in the very old population.J Aging Phys Act. 2017; 25: 189-195
- Age-related changes in muscle thickness and echo intensity of trunk muscles in healthy women: Comparison of 20-60s age groups.Eur J Appl Physiol. 2020; 120: 1805-1814
- Normal values for quantitative muscle ultrasonography in adults.Muscle Nerve. 2010; 41: 32-41
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- Age-related changes in muscle volume and intramuscular fat content in quadriceps femoris and hamstrings.Exp Gerontol. 2020; 132: 110834
- Skeletal muscle ultrasonography: Visual versus quantitative evaluation.Ultrasound Med Biol. 2006; 32: 1315-1321
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 27, 2020
Footnotes
Funding sources: This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP17K18294 (Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists B).
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of AMDA - The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.