Research

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Sarcopenia is significantly associated with a higher risk of mortality in adults, independent of population type, sarcopenia definition, or follow-up period.

If you are an adult, especially over 50, muscle loss is a serious health risk that doubles your chance of dying, regardless of whether you live at home or in a facility. You should not accept muscle loss as 'just aging.' Get screened for sarcopenia (muscle mass and strength tests) and engage in resistance training and adequate protein intake to mitigate this risk.

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Overall, sarcopenia was associated with a significantly higher risk of mortality (HR: 2.00 [95% CI: 1.71, 2.34]; OR: 2.35 [95% CI: 1.64, 3.37]), which was independent of population, sarcopenia definition, and follow-up period in subgroup analyses.
Jane J Xu et al. · Gerontology · 2021

Why this rating

Systematic review and meta-analysis of 56 articles with 42,108 participants, using random-effects models.

Source

Sarcopenia Is Associated with Mortality in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Jane J Xu et al. · Gerontology · 2021

DOI 10.1159/000517099

Meta-analysis · 56 studiesCited 413×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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