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Morphological and qualitative characteristics of the quadriceps muscle of community-dwelling older adults based on ultrasound imaging: classification using latent class analysis

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Abstract

Background

Muscle thickness and echo intensity measured using ultrasound imaging represent both increased muscle volume and connective tissue accumulation. In combination, these ultrasound measurements can be utilized for assessing sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults.

Aims

This study aimed to determine whether morphological and qualitative characteristics classified by quadriceps muscle thickness and echo intensity measured using ultrasound are associated with muscle strength, physical function, and sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods

Quadriceps muscle thickness and echo intensity were measured using ultrasound imaging in 1239 community-dwelling older adults. Latent class analyses were conducted to classify participants based on similarity in the subcutaneous fat thickness (FT), quadriceps muscle thickness (MT), subcutaneous fat echo intensity (FEI), and muscle echo intensity (MEI), which were assessed using ultrasound imaging.

Results and discussion

Morphological and qualitative characteristics were classified into four types as follows: (A) normal, (B) sarcopenic obesity, (C) obesity, and (D) sarcopenia type. Knee extension strength was significantly greater in A than in B and D. FT and percent body fat were greater in C than in the other types. The correlation between the ultrasound measures and knee extension strength differed among the classification types. The classification types were significantly associated with sarcopenia prevalence.

Conclusions

Classification of the morphological and qualitative characteristics obtained from ultrasound imaging may be useful for assessing sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the local authorities of the Itabashi Ward and the elderly people who participated in this study. We would like to thank Jung Songee, PhD, from the University of Tsukuba, who is currently with the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, for the support in the muscle echo intensity measurement. This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (24700774) and a Health and Labor Sciences Research Grant (H23-Choju-Ippan-001, H23-Choju-Ippan-002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, 35-2 Sakae-cho, Itabashi-Ku, Tokyo, 173-0015, Japan

    Hisashi Kawai, Takeshi Kera, Ryo Hirayama, Hirohiko Hirano, Yoshinori Fujiwara & Shuichi Obuchi

  2. Department of Public Health, Toho University School of Medicine, 5-21-16 Omorinishi, Ota-ku, Tokyo, 143-8540, Japan

    Kazushige Ihara

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tokyo Health Sciences, 4-11 Ochiai, Tama-shi, Tokyo, 206-0033, Japan

    Motonaga Kojima

Authors
  1. Hisashi Kawai
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  2. Takeshi Kera
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  3. Ryo Hirayama
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  4. Hirohiko Hirano
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  5. Yoshinori Fujiwara
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  6. Kazushige Ihara
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  7. Motonaga Kojima
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  8. Shuichi Obuchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hisashi Kawai.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Kawai, H., Kera, T., Hirayama, R. et al. Morphological and qualitative characteristics of the quadriceps muscle of community-dwelling older adults based on ultrasound imaging: classification using latent class analysis. Aging Clin Exp Res 30, 283–291 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-017-0781-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-017-0781-0

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