BACKGROUND

The cardiometabolic index (CMI) is a reliable marker used to assess the degree of obesity and lipid metabolism disorders in individuals. Emerging evidence indicates that disorders of lipid metabolism and sarcopenia share a common pathophysiologic basis. However, few studies have investigated the association between CMI and sarcopenia. Therefore, this study aimed to find the possible correlation between CMI and sarcopenia.

METHODS

This study used cross-sectional research methods to investigate data on CMI, sarcopenia, and other covariates among participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2011 to 2018. We explored the relationship between CMI and sarcopenia through multivariate linear and logistic regression, and we performed sensitivity and subgroup analyses. Also, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and area under the curve (AUC) were utilized to evaluate the performance of CMI in identifying sarcopenia.

RESULTS

Of the 4,808 adults aged 20 to 59 included in this study, 428 (8.90 %) were identified as having sarcopenia. A significant nonlinear association between CMI and sarcopenia was demonstrated in a generalized additive model (GAM). After inclusion of all covariates, CMI showed a significant association with the prevalence of sarcopenia (OR = 1.173(1.086-1.267),  < 0.001). CMI got an AUC of 0.69 in identifying sarcopenia. Finally, subgroup analyses showed that the association between CMI and sarcopenia was particularly pronounced in individuals who differed in marital status, poverty-to-income ratio, alcohol consumption, patients without diabetes, and patients with hypertension ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that an elevated CMI was associated with an increased prevalence of sarcopenia. The finding suggests that CMI could serve as a potential marker for sarcopenia, highlighting the need for further research to explore the relationship between dyslipidemia and sarcopenia.