Objective  To investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia in the elderly people in a community of Chenghua District of Chengdu city and analyze its relationship with geriatric frailty syndrome.

Methods  A total of 586 elderly people in a community of Chenghua District of Chengdu city were selected as research objects for comprehensive geriatric assessment, including general data survey, anthropometric measurements (height, weight, grip strength, pace and skeletal muscle), and frailty screening scale survey. Incidence conditions of sarcopenia and geriatric frailty syndrome were evaluated, and the relationship between sarcopenia and geriatric frailty syndrome was analyzed.

Results  Totally 83 cases were diagnosed as sarcopenia, and the prevalence of sarcopenia was 14.98%. There were no significant differences in gender, education level, smoking, alcohol consumption and basic diseases between the sarcopenia group and the normal group (P>0.05). Compared with the normal group, the sarcopenia group had a significant lower ratio of patients aged 60 to 74 years old, a significant higher ratio of patients aged 75 to 84 years old and ≥85 years old, and a significant higher incidence of geriatric frailty syndrome (P < 0.05). Compared with the normal group, the sarcopenia group had significant lower grip strength, pace, skeletal muscle mass of the four limbs, and appendicular skeletal muscle index (ASMI) (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that age, body mass index (BMI) and geriatric frailty syndrome were influencing factors for sarcopenia (P < 0.05).

Conclusion  Prevalence of sarcopenia in the elderly people in a community of Chenghua District of Chengdu city is relatively high, and sarcopenia is closely correlated with the occurrence of geriatric frailty syndrome.