Sarcopenic obesity as a risk factor for decreased instrumental activity in everyday life in age-associated pathology of the visual organ

Background: Age-related macular degeneration is the main cause of severe, permanent visual impairment and blindness in people over the age of 60 with sarcopenic obesity. Daily activities are considered basic self-care skills, but they are not well understood in patients with visual impairment and sarcopenic obesity.

Aim: To assessment of the effect of sarcopenic obesity and age-associated pathology of the visual organ on the functional abilities of patients.

Materials and methods: Two clinical groups were formed during the study: the main group (132 patients aged 60–74 years with sarcopenic obesity) and the control group (134 patients with sarcopenic obesity and age-related macular degeneration). Instrumental activity in everyday life was determined by the Lawton scale. Sarcopenic obesity was detected according to the criteria of reduced muscle mass and increased body mass index recommended by the European Working Group on sarcopenia in older people (EWGSOP2, 2018).

Results: When comparing instrumental activity in the daily life of patients in the two groups, it was found that it was more significantly reduced in patients with sarcopenic obesity and age-related macular degeneration, which is confirmed by the average activity value on the Lawton scale, which is 1.25 times lower among patients with sarcopenic obesity and age-related macular degeneration (4.72±0.07 points versus 5.91±0.09 points). To the greatest extent, patients with sarcopenic obesity and age-related macular degeneration differed from patients with sarcopenic obesity in terms of the difficulty of making phone calls — by 1.56 times (0.89±0.07 points versus 0.57±0.05 points) and using transport — by 1.50 times (0.78±0.06 points versus 0.52±0.07 points).

Conclusion: Sarcopenic obesity in combination with visual impairment reduces instrumental activities in daily life, such as using transport, making phone calls, shopping, and conducting financial transactions, more significantly than sarcopenic obesity. To prevent and increase instrumental activity in daily life, it is necessary to support such patients from others, early detection of sarcopenic obesity and age-related ophthalmopathology, timely correction of visual impairment, and treatment of sarcopenic obesity.