Effects of exercise on muscle mass, strength, and physical performance in older adults with sarcopenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis according to the EWGSOP criteria

Abstract Background Sarcopenia, a progressive loss of muscle mass and function with advancing age, is a prevalent condition among older adults. As most older people are too frail to do intensive exercise and vibration therapy has low risk and ease of participation, it may be more readily accepted by elderly individuals. However, it remains unclear whether vibration therapy would be effective among older adults with sarcopenia. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effect of vibration therapy including local vibration therapy and whole-body vibration therapy, for enhancing muscle mass, muscle strength and physical function in older people with sarcopenia. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted in March 2019 in the following 5 electronic databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PEDro, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, with no restriction of language or the year of publication. Randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies examining effects of vibration therapy on muscle mass, muscle strength or physical function in older adults with sarcopenia were included in this systematic review. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of the selected studies. Results Of the 1972 identified studies, seven publications from six studies involving 223 participants were included in this systematic review. Five of them conducted whole-body vibration therapy, while two conducted local vibration therapy. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies indicated that muscle strength significantly increased after whole-body vibration therapy (SMD 0.69, 95% CI 0.28 to 1.11, I2 = 0%, P = 0.001) and local vibration therapy (SMD 3.78, 95% CI 2.29 to 5.28, P < 0.001). Physical performance measured by the sit-to-stand test and the timed-up-and-go test were significantly improved after the intervention (SMD -0.79, 95% CI − 1.21 to − 0.37, I2 = 0%, P < 0.001) and SMD -0.83, 95% CI − 1.56 to − 0.11, I2 = 64%, P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusion Vibration therapy could be a prospective strategy for improving muscle strength and physical performance in older adults with sarcopenia. However, due to the limited number of the included studies, caution is needed when interpreting these results. More well-designed, large sample size studies should be conducted to further explore and validate the benefits of vibration therapy for this population.

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Nutritional Intervention to Prevent the Functional Decline in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12092820 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 2820

Author(s):

Julie Mareschal ◽

Laurence Genton ◽

Tinh-Hai Collet ◽

Christophe Graf

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Older Adults ◽

Muscle Strength ◽

Muscle Mass ◽

Physical Performance ◽

Nutritional Intervention ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Health Concern ◽

The Impact ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

Aging is a global public health concern. From the age of 50, muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance tend to decline. Sarcopenia and frailty are frequent in community-dwelling older adults and are associated with negative outcomes such as physical disability and mortality. Therefore, the identification of therapeutic strategies to prevent and fight sarcopenia and frailty is of great interest. This systematic review aims to summarize the impact of nutritional interventions alone or combined with other treatment(s) in older community-dwelling adults on (1) the three indicators of sarcopenia, i.e., muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance; and (2) the hospitalization and readmission rates. The literature search was performed on Medline and included studies published between January 2010 and June 2020. We included randomized controlled trials of nutritional intervention alone or combined with other treatment(s) in community-living subjects aged 65 or older. In total, 28 articles were retained in the final analysis. This systematic review highlights the importance of a multimodal approach, including at least a combined nutritional and exercise intervention, to improve muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance, in community-dwelling older adults but especially in frail and sarcopenic subjects. Regarding hospitalization and readmission rate, data were limited and inconclusive. Future studies should continue to investigate the effects of such interventions in this population.

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Resistance Training with Blood Flow Restriction Compared to Traditional Resistance Training on Strength and Muscle Mass in Non-Active Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182111441 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (21) ◽

pp. 11441

Author(s):

Darío Rodrigo-Mallorca ◽

Andrés Felipe Loaiza-Betancur ◽

Pablo Monteagudo ◽

Cristina Blasco-Lafarga ◽

Iván Chulvi-Medrano

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Older Adults ◽

Blood Flow ◽

Resistance Training ◽

Muscle Mass ◽

High Intensity ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Small Sample ◽

Blood Flow Restriction ◽

Flow Restriction

Low-intensity training with blood flow restriction (LI-BFR) has been suggested as an alternative to high-intensity resistance training for the improvement of strength and muscle mass, becoming advisable for individuals who cannot assume such a load. The systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of the LI-BFR compared to dynamic high-intensity resistance training on strength and muscle mass in non-active older adults. A systematic review was conducted according to the Cochrane Handbook and reportedly followed the PRISMA statement. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science Core Collection, and Scopus databases were searched between September and October 2020. Two reviewers independently selected the studies, extracted data, assessed the risk of bias and the quality of evidence using the GRADE approach. Twelve studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Meta-analysis pointed out significant differences in maximal voluntary contraction (MVC): SMD 0.61, 95% CI [0.10, 1.11], p = 0.02, I2 71% p < 0.0001; but not in the repetition maximum (RM): SMD 0.07, 95% CI [−0.25, 0.40], p = 0.66, I2 0% p < 0.53; neither in the muscle mass: SMD 0.62, 95% CI [−0.09, 1.34], p = 0.09, I2 59% p = 0.05. Despite important limitations such as scarce literature regarding LI-BFR in older adults, the small sample size in most studies, the still differences in methodology and poor quality in many of them, this systematic review and meta-analysis revealed a positive benefit in non-active older adults. LI- BFR may induce increased muscular strength and muscle mass, at least at a similar extent to that in the traditional high-intensity resistance training.

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Dietary phytochemicals as a promising nutritional strategy for sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Applied Biological Chemistry ◽

10.1186/s13765-021-00633-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hye Yun Jeong ◽

Oran Kwon

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Older Adults ◽

Randomized Controlled Trials ◽

Muscle Mass ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Controlled Trials ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Nutritional Strategy ◽

Dietary Phytochemicals ◽

Muscle Health

AbstractThe decline in skeletal muscle mass and strength, also called sarcopenia, accelerates with age, leading to negative health outcomes and poor quality of life. Diet is important to promote health and plays a key role in muscle aging. Plant-based foods have recently received attention as sources of phytochemical components to attenuate loss of muscle mass and strength in older adults. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the benefits of botanical extracts and their phytochemical compounds for muscle health in older adults. Randomized controlled trials were identified via systematic searches of four electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and KoreaMed) up to June 2021 and were quality assessed. The results of muscle strength, mass, and physical performance were pooled using a random-effects model. Fourteen studies involving 528 subjects aged between 50 and 80 years met the inclusion criteria. Dietary phytochemicals significantly increased handgrip strength [0.90 kg; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.26–1.53, p = 0.01] and physical performance (timed up-and-go test: − 0.5 s, 2.73 times; 95% CI − 0.84 to − 0.15, p < 0.01; 30-s chair stand test: 95% CI 0.88–4.59, p < 0.01; 6-min walk test: 29.36 m; 95% CI 14.58–44.13, p < 0.0001) but had no effect on improvement in muscle mass. Publication bias evaluated by funnel plots and Egger’s regression test demonstrated no evidence of substantial publication bias (p > 0.05). The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that phytochemicals are a potential nutritional strategy to improve muscle health in older adults.

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