Sarcopenia is associated with tongue pressure in older patients with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional study of the KAMOGAWA-DM cohort study

Aim: Death as a result of pneumonia is an important issue in patients with diabetes. Tongue pressure is associated with swallowing function, which has a close association with aspiration pneumonia. However, no previous studies have shown the association between sarcopenia and tongue pressure in older patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, we investigated body composition, handgrip strength and tongue pressure. Skeletal muscle mass index (kg/m² ) was defined as appendicular muscle mass / the square of the height. Sarcopenia was defined when both handgrip strength <26 kg for men and <18 kg for women, and the skeletal muscle mass index <7.0 kg/m² for men and <5.7 kg/m² for women existed.

Results: Among 144 patients (82 men, 71.4 years [SD 6.7 years]), 11.8% had sarcopenia. Tongue pressure was associated with skeletal muscle mass index and handgrip strength (r = 0.361, P < 0.001 and r = 0.387, P < 0.001, respectively, in men; and r = 0.300, P = 0.018 and r = 0.538, P < 0.001, respectively, in women). Tongue pressure was associated with the prevalence of sarcopenia after adjusting for covariates (OR 3.83, 95% CI 1.06-13.9, P = 0.041). According to the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the optimal cut-off value of handgrip strength for the presence of low tongue pressure was 27.7 kg (AUC 0.70, 95% CI 0.53-0.83, sensitivity 0.78, specificity 0.64) in men and 18.3 kg (AUC 0.71, 95% CI 0.54-0.84, sensitivity 0.82, specificity 0.54) in women.

Conclusions: Sarcopenia, especially handgrip strength, is associated with tongue pressure in older patients with type 2 diabetes. We should consider a decrease of swallowing function when examining patients with sarcopenia. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 153-158.