Visual Impairment as a Risk Factor for Sarcopenic Obesity

Visual impairment and especially pronounced decrease in visual acuity without correction due to senile cataract and primary glaucoma significantly reduces the motor activity of elderly patients and can contribute to the development of sarcopenic obesity. However, the effect of visual deficit on the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity in the named age was not carried out. The purpose of the study was to study visual impairment as a risk factor for sarcopenic obesity among the elderly patients. At the S.N. Fedorov National medical research center “MNTK Eye Microsurgery” 289 patients aged 60–74 years with cataract and sarcopenic obesity and 294 patients aged 60–74 years with primary glaucoma and sarcopenic obesity were examined. Cataract was diagnosed according to the criteria presented in the Clinical Guidelines for Senile Cataract, and primary glaucoma — in the National Glaucoma Guidelines. Sarcopenic obesity was identified based on the criteria of decreased muscle strength, decreased muscle mass, and increased body mass index, taking into account the recommendations proposed by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2, 2018). The maximum prevalence of sarcopenic obesity among elderly patients with cataract was established by uncorrected visual acuity of 0.20–0.30, which amounted to 58.1 ± 3.7 % among all representatives of this group. A high prevalence of sarcopenic obesity was also observed with uncorrected visual acuity of 0.31–0.40 — 26.0 ± 1.9 % of cases. With other parameters of uncorrected visual acuity in cataract, sarcopenic obesity was significantly less common (p < 0.001). A similar pattern was found in visual impairment due to primary glaucoma in patients of the same age. The correlation between uncorrected visual acuity and the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity was strong both in cataract (r = -0.764, p < 0.001) and in primary glaucoma (r = -0.712; p < 0.001). The obtained results allow us to consider visual impairment as a significant risk factor for sarcopenic obesity in the elderly with cataract and primary glaucoma, and early screening of these diseases will help reduce sarcopenic obesity.

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