The longitudinal association between possible new sarcopenia and the depression trajectory of individuals and their intimate partners

Background: It is currently unknown whether the dynamic nature of depression affects the development of sarcopenia. Herein, this study aims to assess the association between possible new sarcopenia and the depression trajectory of individuals and their intimate partners through a 4-year longitudinal cohort study.

Methods: Our study included 784 pairs of individuals without possible sarcopenia and their spouses from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2011. All individuals and their spouses received three assessments of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression 10-item (CESD-10) scale in 2011, 2013, and 2015. According to the diagnostic algorithm recommended by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019, we evaluated the incidence of possible sarcopenia in individuals in 2015. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify a longitudinal depression trajectory of individuals and their spouses during a 4-year follow-up. Subsequently, we assessed the relationship between possible sarcopenia and depression trajectory using three generalized additive models.

Results: In 2015, 24.87% (195/784) of individuals were diagnosed with possible sarcopenia. LCA identified five depression trajectories: a persistently high risk of depression in individuals and their spouses (reference; class 1 = 34 [4.3%]); a persistently low risk of depression in individuals and their spouses (class 2 = 526 [67.1%]); a high risk of depression in individuals and a low risk of depression in spouses (class 3 = 46 [5.9%]); a low risk of depression in individuals and a high risk of depression in spouses (class 4 = 116 [14.8%]); and a reduced risk of depression in individuals and their spouses (class 5 = 62 [7.9%]). The highest incidence of possible sarcopenia was shown in class 1, followed by classes 3 and 5. Classes 2 (adjusted relative risk (RR) = 0.44, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.20–0.97) and 4 (adjusted RR = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.17–0.96) had a significantly lower incidence of possible sarcopenia than class 1. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that the incidence of possible sarcopenia in class 4 was obviously higher in women (38.89%) than in men (18.4%).

Conclusions: Our study indicates a persistently high risk of depression in individuals to develop possible sarcopenia. In addition, a persistently high risk of depression in intimate partners potentially increases the risk of possible new sarcopenia, especially in female individuals who are at low risk of depression.