Association between phase angle and the risk of sarcopenic obesity in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES

Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Phase angle (PhA), derived from bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), is a potential marker of cellular health and muscle quality. This study aimed to investigate the association between PhA and the risk of SO in Japanese individuals with T2DM.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, body composition and PhA were evaluated by BIA. Sarcopenic obesity was defined as the coexistence of sarcopenia, characterized by decreased handgrip strength (men <28 kg, women <18 kg) and reduced BMI-adjusted fat-free mass (men <0.789 kg/BMI, women <0.512 kg/BMI), and obesity, defined as BMI ≥25 kg/m2 and body fat percentage (men ≥20 %, women ≥30 %). Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between PhA and SO, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to assess predictive ability.

RESULTS

Among 468 participants (mean age 68.2 ± 11.3 years), 16 participants had SO. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that PhA was associated with SO (adjusted odds ratio 0.88 per 0.1° increase, 95 % CI 0.79-0.97, p = 0.01), and according to ROC analysis, the optimal PhA cutoff for diagnosing SO was 4.55° (sensitivity 0.88, specificity 0.70, AUC 0.81, 95 % CI 0.73-0.89, p = 0.0003).

CONCLUSIONS

Lower PhA was independently associated with SO in Japanese individuals with T2DM, suggesting that PhA may serve as a potential biomarker for identifying individuals at high risk of SO.