Sarcopenia is associated with lower step count in patients with peripheral artery disease following endovascular treatment

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) often complain of reduced physical activity (PA) despite improvements in intermittent claudication after successful endovascular treatment (EVT). Sarcopenia resulting from chronic ischemia can affect post-EVT PA levels.

Objective

This study aims to assess the association between sarcopenia and post-EVT PA levels.

Methods

One hundred five patients with PAD were consecutively enrolled in this study. PA was assessed using the post-EVT step count and the pre-EVT International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Sarcopenia was diagnosed based on the Asia Working Group for Sarcopenia and defined as low muscle mass and strength, and/or slow walking speed. The patients were categorized into three groups: 1) patients with sarcopenia (Sarcopenia Group); 2) patients with only low muscle mass or strength, and/or slow walking speed (Suspected-Sarcopenia Group); and 3) patients who did not fulfill all the sarcopenia criteria (No-Sarcopenia Group).

Results

Proportions of patients in the Sarcopenia, Suspected-Sarcopenia, and No-Sarcopenia Groups were 31.4, 38.1, and 30.5%, respectively. After controlling for potential confounders, the Sarcopenia Group demonstrated significantly lower step counts than the Suspected-Sarcopenia Group (p = .016) and No-Sarcopenia Group (p = .009).

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that patients with PAD and sarcopenia require rehabilitation strategies to enhance physical performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Endovascular treatment
• physical activity
• peripheral artery disease
• sarcopenia

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the medical staff members of the Department of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Foot Care team in Gifu Heart Center for their cooperation in the measurement. They also thank the members of Nagoya Gakuin University for thoughtful discussion when preparing this manuscript. We are grateful to Dr. Mizumura and Dr. Dohi for the helpful comments on the manuscript. We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

Concept/idea/research design: Koya Takino, Tomoko Koeda; Writing: Koya Takino, Tomoko Koeda; Data collection: Koya Takino, Yasutaka Hara, Daisuke Sakui; Data analysis: Koya Takino; Project management: Jun Kikuchi, Takuyuki Komoda, Tomoko Koeda; Fund procurement: Tomoko Koeda; Providing participants: Koya Takino, Yasutaka Hara, Daisuke Sakui, Jun Kikuchi, Takuyuki Komoda; Providing facilities/equipment: Yasutaka Hara, Itta Kawamura, Jun Kikuchi, Takuyuki Komoda; Providing institutional liaisons: Koya Takino; Consultation (including review of manuscript before submitting): Itta Kawamura, Jun Kikuchi, Takuyuki Komoda, Tomoko Koeda

Ethical approval

This retrospective study has been approved by Ethics Committee of Gifu Heart Center, Gifu, JAPAN (2019037).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Nagoya Gakuin University (Number: 2016 and 2018).