Exploring the Association between Elevated Anxiety Symptoms and Low Skeletal Muscle Mass among Asymptomatic Adults: A Population-Based Study in Republic of Korea

• Published in: Brain sciences Vol. 14; no. 5; p. 438
• Main Authors: Kim, Eunsoo, Jung, Sra, Lee, Mi Yeon, Park, Chul-Hyun, Cho, Sung Joon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-05-2024
• Subjects: Adults; Aging; Anesthesia; Anxiety; Anxiety disorders; anxiety symptoms; Blood pressure; Body composition; Cancer; Cardiovascular disease; Chronic illnesses; Diabetes; Electrical impedance; Exercise; Fear & phobias; Health aspects; Hypertension; low skeletal muscle mass; Medical screening; Mental disorders; mental health; Metabolism; Muscle strength; Muscles; Musculoskeletal diseases; Musculoskeletal system; Population; Population studies; Quality of life; Questionnaires; Sarcopenia; Skeletal muscle; Smoking; Stroke; Variables; Womens health; South Korea; Ireland; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; anxiety symptoms; aging; low skeletal muscle mass; mental health; sarcopenia
• ISSN: 2076-3425; 2076-3425
• DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14050438

Individuals with mental health problems are at higher risk of musculoskeletal diseases. However, the association between low muscle mass (LMM) and anxiety symptoms remains uninvestigated. This cross-sectional study enrolled 174,262 adults (73,833 women, 100,429 men), aged 18 to 89, who completed the anxiety scale and body composition analyses. Using bio-electrical impedance analysis, skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) was calculated based on appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) (kg)/height (m
). LMM was defined as SMI < 7.0 kg/m
in men and <5.4 kg/m
in women. Anxiety symptoms were screened using the Clinical Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale (CUXOS) with cut-off scores of 20, 30, and 40. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. LMM prevalence was 20.17% in women, 3.86% in men (
< 0.001). The prevalence of anxiety symptoms in LMM group decreased from mild (CUXOS > 20: women, 32.74%, men, 21.17%) to moderate (CUXOS > 30: 13.34%, 7.32%), to severe anxiety symptoms (CUXOS > 40: 4.00%, 1.73%). In multivariable-adjusted models, LMM was associated with mild (aOR (95% confidence interval)), women, 1.13 (1.08-1.17); men, 1.17 (1.08-1.27)), moderate (1.17 (1.11-1.24); 1.35 (1.19-1.53) and severe anxiety symptoms (1.18 (1.07-1.3), 1.36 (1.06-1.74)), demonstrating an increased risk of ORs with escalating anxiety severity. LMM was independently associated with a higher prevalence of anxiety symptoms.