Muscle quality (i.e., the expression of muscle function per unit of muscle mass) has been proposed as a clinically-relevant measure to detect individuals at risk of functional incapacity. Individuals with obesity might be at an increased risk of having poor muscle quality. Thus, we aimed to analyze the prevalence of poor muscle quality in obese individuals, to determine associated variables, and to provide normative values for this population. 203 individuals with obesity (103 women, age: 18–75 years, body mass index (BMI): 35–64 kg·m− 2) participated in this cross-sectional study. Their muscle strength (handgrip dynamometry), muscle power (sit-to-stand test) and muscle mass (bioelectrical impedance analysis) were measured, and muscle quality (strength/power to muscle mass ratio) was compared with reference values obtained in young healthy individuals. Muscle quality was individually categorized as normal, low or poor based on specific muscle strength and power (i.e., strength and power per unit of muscle mass, respectively). Sex and age-specific normative values of specific muscle strength and power were computed for the whole cohort. Age and being a woman were inversely associated with specific muscle strength, with age being also inversely associated with specific muscle power. A small proportion of participants (6%) presented with an impaired (i.e., low/poor) specific muscle power while most of them (96%) had impaired specific muscle strength. Eventually, 84% of the participants were deemed to have poor muscle quality. Being a woman (odds ratio [OR]: 18.09, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 4.07–80.38), age (OR: 1.06, 95%CI: 1.03–1.10) and BMI (OR: 1.22, 95%CI: 1.07–1.38) were independently associated with a higher risk of poor muscle quality in adjusted analyses. These findings show a high prevalence of poor muscle quality among individuals with obesity, with age, sex and BMI being independent predictors.

中文翻译：

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肥胖相关的不良肌肉质量：患病率与年龄，性别和体重指数的关系

已经提出了肌肉质量（即，每单位肌肉质量的肌肉功能的表达）作为检测与功能丧失相关的危险的个体的临床相关措施。肥胖者肌肉质量低下的风险可能会增加。因此，我们旨在分析肥胖个体中不良肌肉质量的患病率，确定相关变量，并为该人群提供规范价值。203名肥胖者（103名妇女，年龄：18-75岁，体重指数（BMI）：35-64 kg·m-2）参加了这项横断面研究。测量他们的肌肉力量（握力测功），肌肉力量（静坐测试）和肌肉质量（生物电阻抗分析），并将肌肉质量（力量/力量与肌肉质量之比）与年轻健康个体的参考值进行比较。根据特定的肌肉力量和力量（即每单位肌肉质量的力量和力量）分别将肌肉质量分为正常，低下或差。为整个队列计算特定肌肉力量和力量的性别和年龄特定规范值。年龄和作为女性与特定的肌肉力量成反比，与年龄也与特定的肌肉力量成反比。一小部分参与者（6％）表现出特定的肌肉力量受损（即低/较弱），而大多数参与者（96％）则表现出特定的肌肉力量受损。最终，有84％的参与者被认为肌肉质量较差。作为女性（赔率[OR]：18.09，95％的置信区间[CI]：4.07–80.38），年龄（OR：1.06、95％CI：1.03-1.10）和BMI（OR：1.22、95％CI：1.07–1.38）与较高的患病风险独立相关调整后的分析结果显示肌肉质量较差。这些发现表明肥胖个体中不良肌肉质量的患病率很高，年龄，性别和BMI是独立的预测因素。