The analysis of skeletal muscle mass (SMM) in older adults, either total-body skeletal muscle mass (TSMM) or appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASMM), is important to monitor this component throughout aging. These values are more often associated with disability when adjusted for height, thus enabling the analysis of total muscle mass index (TMMI) and appendicular muscle mass index (AMMI). The objective of the present study was to present the standard mean and percentile values of TSMM, ASMM, TMMI, and AMMI of older adults from the city of São Paulo according to sex and age group. The sample consisted of 1,203 male and female older adults who participated in the 2006 cohort of the SABE Study: Health, Wellness and Aging, conducted in São Paulo, Brazil. The variables TSMM and ASMM were calculated using predictive equations, whereas their respective indexes were calculated using the ratio between the values of SMM and squared height (in kg.m-2). The means and standard deviations of TSMM in women and men 80 years old or younger and older than 80 years old were: 17.7±3.6, 14.4±3.2, 26.9±3.8, and 24.1±2.9 in kg, respectively. The values of ASMM were 14.4±2.1, 13.0±2.0, 21.0±2.8, and 19.4±2.3, respectively. When adjusted for squared height, the values of TMMI were 7.6±1.4, 6.3±1.2, 9.8±1.1, and 8.9±0.9 in kg.m-2, and the values of AMMI were 6.1±0.7, 5.7±0.7, 7.6±0.8, and 7.2±0.7, respectively. All variables were correlated (r > 0.84). Men and the younger age groups had higher values of SMM, with statistical significance compared with their peers, and the differences between age groups were higher among women.
Aging; Anthropometry; Muscle mass; Muscle mass index; Sarcopenia
