Investigating the effect of physical activity on improving sarcopenia in the elderly: a systematic review

Sarcopenia Syndrome is a situation that characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. The aim of study is to investigate the effect of physical activity on preventing and control the progression of Sarcopenia.

This study is a systematic review based on the PRISMA statement and were implemented systematically an electronic search in Iran Medex, SID, Magiran databases, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar, and Science Direct in both Persian and English language from January 2013 to April 2020. The key words “Physical activity” and “Sarcopenia” were searched in both languages.

The results of studies conducted in Brazil showed there was significant different in the prevalence of sarcopenia between men and women (p = 0.029), so that prevalence of sarcopenia in men was 15.3% vs prevalence sarcopenia in women is 5.9%. A Korean study found that the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity was significantly lower among those who were active. Men who had higher physical activity levels were less likely to develop sarcopenia (p <0.001). Higher levels of physical activity have been associated with a reduced risk of sarcopenia.The results of a study in Spain showed that there is a significant relationship between sarcopenia and physical activity, so that people with sedentary behavior (SB) are more likely to sarcopenia (p <0.001).

Findings show that physical activity helps maintain or improve muscle mass in the elderly.