Gender Differences in the Prevalence and Associated Factors of Sarcopenia Among Maintenance Haemodialysis Patients in Vietnam.

Aim: The prevalence and associated factors of dialysis-related sarcopenia could vary greatly according to gender. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of sarcopenia in haemodialysis patients according to gender and to assess some factors related to sarcopenia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in maintenance haemodialysis patients. Muscle mass was measured after a dialysis session using bioelectrical impedance analysis. The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 definition was applied to diagnose sarcopenia. Logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the associations between several factors and sarcopenia in each gender group.

Results: Among 270 participants (50.7% males, age 52.4 ± 13.8), 47 males (34.3%) and 75 females (56.4%) had sarcopenia. According to multivariate logistic regression, the correlates in males were age (OR 1.035, 95% CI 1.001-1.070, p = 0.044), BMI (OR 0.704, 95% CI 0.582-0.852, p < 0.001), dialysis vintage (OR 1.084, 95% CI 1.019-1.153, p = 0.011) and low income (OR 2.49, 95% CI 1.09-5.65, p = 0.03). In females, age (OR 1.053, 95% CI 1.017-1.091, p = 0.003), BMI (OR 0.746, 95% CI 0.619-0.899, p = 0.002), dialysis vintage (OR 1.109, 95% CI 1.017-1.209, p = 0.019), poor nutritional status (OR 5.17, 95% 2.01-13.28, p = 0.001), and polypharmacy (OR 5.12, 95% CI 1.43-18.42, p = 0.012) were associated with sarcopenia.

Conclusion: Our study showed that sarcopenia was common among haemodialysis patients, and female patients were more susceptible to sarcopenia. There are differences in gender-specific associated factors of sarcopenia.