Incidence and risk factors of sarcopenia in hospitalized survivors of COVID-19; a retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: Among the persistent conditions affecting patients in the post-acute COVID-19 period, sarcopenia is increasingly emphasized. In this study, we aimed to determine the incidence of sarcopenia and to reveal the risk factors predicting it in hospitalized survivors of COVID-19.

Methodology: This is a retrospective cohort study conducted between December 2021 and May 2022 in the post-COVID follow-up center of a tertiary hospital in Turkey. One hundred and sixty-eight patients who were hospitalized because of COVID-19 and discharged were included in the study. The SARC-F scale was applied to determine the risk of sarcopenia in the participants. Twelve patients with a SARC-F score ≥ 4 before COVID-19 were excluded from the study. The medical records of the remaining 156 participants were reviewed, and their demographic characteristics, COVID-19 disease data, hemogram, and CRP parameters were also noted.

Results: Sarcopenia risk was detected in 17 (10.9%) patients whose median age was higher than the others. Increased risk for sarcopenia was higher in women, lack of education, use of assisted respirators at home, having a psychiatric illness, losing > 10% weight during the hospitalization, and being treated in the intensive care unit. Multiple regression analysis showed that female gender (OR: 8.04 [1.51-42.76]), having a psychiatric illness (OR: 13.23 [2.12-82.51]), and losing > 10% weight during hospitalization (OR: 18.46 [2.57-132.72]) predicted the sarcopenia risk.

Conclusions: Sarcopenia should be closely monitored in patients with cases of severe inflammatory effect, inadequate food intake, and diminished physical activity such as hospitalized survivors of COVID-19.