title: Femoral muscle mass relates to physical frailty components in community-dwelling older people.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between lower limb muscle (femoral muscle, calf muscle) mass and exercise capacity, and frailty components in community-dwelling older people.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included 121 community-dwelling individuals. There were 42 men and 79 women, and the mean age was 77.7 years (range 56-97 years). Appendicular skeletal muscle mass was determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and the skeletal muscle index was calculated using the following formula: appendicular skeletal muscle / body height2. Femoral muscle mass and calf muscle mass were determined, respectively, by dividing the femoral bone and tibial bone at the knee joint space. A symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise testing was carried out and peak oxygen uptake was measured. Functional exercise performance was evaluated using the handgrip strength measurement, comfortable walking speed, and the Timed Up and Go test. All patients gave written, informed consent before data collection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Peak oxygen uptake correlated positively with the skeletal muscle index (r = 0.491). Only femoral muscle mass that was corrected with the whole body muscle mass was positively correlated with peak oxygen uptake (r = 0.473), handgrip strength (r = 0.382), comfortable walking speed (r = 0.427), and the Timed Up and Go test (r = 0.379). Calf muscle mass that was corrected with the whole-body muscle mass showed no correlation with exercise capacity and frailty components. A similar tendency was observed in both men and women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Femoral muscle mass influenced exercise capacity and physical frail components compared with calf muscle mass. These results suggest the importance of the femoral muscle in physical frailty. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1636-1641.
authors.affiliation: Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.|Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo,, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo,, Japan.
authors.forename: Masamitsu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugie
authors.affiliation: Ochanomizu University, Tokyo,, Japan.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nara
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo,, Japan.
authors.forename: Teruyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo,, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuichi P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Obuchi
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo,, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo,, Japan.
authors.forename: Syunei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kyo
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo,, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005260:Female; D000073496:Frailty / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D007866:Leg; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000175:diagnosis*
keywords: body composition; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; exercise; frail elderly; skeletal muscle