# Association between Sarcopenic Obesity and Changes in Skeletal Muscle Mass and Quality in Patients with Stroke Who Undergo Convalescent Rehabilitation

## TL;DR

This study finds that sarcopenic obesity is linked to worse muscle recovery in stroke patients during rehabilitation.

## Contribution

The study is one of the first to examine sarcopenic obesity's impact on muscle mass and quality changes in stroke patients using the JWGS criteria.

## Key findings

- Sarcopenic obesity was negatively associated with changes in skeletal muscle mass (β: −0.281, p < 0.001).
- Sarcopenic obesity was also negatively linked to changes in skeletal muscle quality (β: −0.189, p = 0.038).

## Abstract

Sarcopenic obesity substantially affects the recovery of physical function in patients with stroke. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between changes in skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and skeletal muscle quality (SMQ) and sarcopenic obesity diagnosed using the Japanese Working Group on Sarcopenic Obesity (JWGS) diagnostic criteria in patients with stroke who undergo rehabilitation. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between sarcopenic obesity and changes in SMM and SMQ in patients with stroke who undergo rehabilitation.

Patients with stroke admitted to a rehabilitation ward in a single center in Japan were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. The inclusion criteria were age 40-75 years and hospitalization for rehabilitation therapy due to stroke. The exclusion criteria were length of hospital stay <14 days and missing clinical data. Data were collected from medical records. Classification of sarcopenic obesity was based on the JWGS diagnostic criteria. The outcomes were the change in SMM and phase angle (PhA) from admission to discharge. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between sarcopenic obesity and changes in SMM and PhA after adjustment for confounding factors.

A total of 173 patients were analyzed. 8 patients (3 male and 5 female) were diagnosed with sarcopenic obesity using the JWGS criteria. Multiple regression analysis revealed that sarcopenic obesity was negatively associated with changes in SMM (β: −0.281, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.449 to −0.113, p < 0.001) and PhA (β: −0.189, 95% CI: −0.367 to −0.010, p = 0.038).

Sarcopenic obesity is negatively associated with changes in SMM and SMQ in patients with stroke who undergo rehabilitation, highlighting the importance of evaluating sarcopenic obesity in patients with stroke from an early stage.