The association between estimated cardiorespiratory fitness and sarcopenic obesity in middle-aged and older adults

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the association between estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (eCRF) and sarcopenic obesity in Korean middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: This study used the data from the 2008–2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey involving 8,252 Korean adults aged ≥50 years (56.6% women). Participants were classified into normal, sarcopenia, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity groups based on the presence of sarcopenia and/or obesity phenotypes. eCRF was assessed using sex-specific algorithms and classified as low (lowest 25%), middle (middle 50%), and high (highest 25%) categories. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the risk of sarcopenic obesity according to eCRF categories. RESULTS: The middle and low eCRF groups had a significantly higher risk of sarcopenia (OR=1.688, 95% CI =1.438–1.981 and OR=2.877, 95% CI =2.366–3.498; respectively) than the high eCRF group (OR=1), a significantly higher risk of obesity (OR=1.810, 95% CI =1.533–2.137 and OR=5.103, 95% CI =4.234–6.151; respectively) than the high eCRF group (OR=1), and a significantly higher risk of sarcopenic obesity (OR=2.852, 95% CI =2.371–3.429 and OR=12.008, 95% CI =9.866–14.616; respectively) than the high eCRF group (OR=1). The risks of sarcopenia, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity in the middle and low eCRF groups remained statis-tically significant after adjusting for all the measured covariates. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that eCRF is an independent predictor of sarcopenic obesity in Korean middle-aged and older adults, implying the importance of promotion of CRF as a preventive measure against sarcopenic obesity.