Does the Combination of Metabolic Syndrome and Low Fat-Free Mass Shorten an Individual's Disability-Free Life? A 12-Year Prospective Cohort Study of the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES)

Objective: This study aims to explore the combined risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and low fat-free mass (FFM) on an individual's disability-free survival (DFS). Disability is defined as a composite of dementia, physical disability, and mortality.

Methods: Using data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study, we divided 3721 participants aged 40-69 years based on their MetS status and FFM index (FFMI) score. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression were used to analyze differences in DFS between the four groups.

Results: From 108 events, MetS group had significantly shorter DFS than the non-MetS group regardless of FFMI (p < 0.0001). After adjusting other potential confounding variables, the MetS group had a higher risk of shortened DFS regardless of FFMI, and the MetS group with low FFMI had a 2.06-fold increased risk compared to the non-MetS group with high FFMI (p < 0.001). Older age and lower income were also associated with higher risk of shorter DFS (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The combination of MetS and low FFMI contribute to a cumulative risk of shortened DFS. Community nurses can perform MetS screening and body composition assessment to predict and control the risk of developing disability over time.