Association of Characteristics between Acute Stroke Patients and Sarcopenia: A Cross-Sectional Study

PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify the prevalence of sarcopenia among acute stroke patients, differences in characteristics based on the presence of sarcopenia, the association between functional and sarcopenia factors, and the association between characteristics and the presence of sarcopenia.METHODS: This study was conducted using a cross-sectional design. Sixty-two stroke patients volunteered to participate and were assigned to the sarcopenia group (n = 32) and the non-sarcopenia group (n = 30). All data collection, including assessment of general characteristics, sarcopenia factors and functional factors, was completed within one day.RESULTS: A sarcopenia prevalence rate of 51% was observed. As skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) and grip strength increased, the berg balance scale (BBS) also increased. Additionally, as grip strength increased, the modified Barthel index (MBI) increased. Significant differences between groups were observed in the characteristics of age, weight, mini-mental state examination, SMI, grip strength, manual muscle testing, BBS, functional ambulation category, and MBI. Furthermore, with each increase of 1 in SMI, the probability of belonging to the sarcopenia group decreased by 0.204 times.CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of sarcopenia was observed in acute stroke patients, with differences in characteristics between stroke patients without sarcopenia and those with sarcopenia. As sarcopenia factors increased, BBS and MBI also increased. Increasing SMI in acute stroke patients can reduce the risk of sarcopenia diagnosis; therefore, exercise interventions aimed at increasing SMI should be considered.