Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Med.

Sec. Nephrology

This article is part of the Research TopicFrailty and Sarcopenia in Various Cachectic Kidney Diseases, Volume IIIView all 4 articles

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Sarcopenia in Patients on Hemodialysis in Brazil: Results of the Multicenter SARC-HD Study

Provisionally accepted
Marvery P. DuarteMarvery P. Duarte1Otávio Toledo NóbregaOtávio Toledo Nóbrega1Barbara Perez VogtBarbara Perez Vogt2Marina S PereiraMarina S Pereira3Fábio A VieiraFábio A Vieira1Maryanne Zilli Canedo SilvaMaryanne Zilli Canedo Silva4Henrique S DisessaHenrique S Disessa5Dario R MondiniDario R Mondini6Rodrigo De Rosso KrugRodrigo De Rosso Krug7Bruna M Sant'helenaBruna M Sant'helena8Daiana C BundchenDaiana C Bundchen9Maristela BohlkeMaristela Bohlke10Angélica N AdamoliAngélica N Adamoli11Ricardo M LimaRicardo M Lima1Antonio Inda-FilhoAntonio Inda-Filho1Carla Maria AvesaniCarla Maria Avesani12Maycon M ReboredoMaycon M Reboredo3Heitor S. RibeiroHeitor S. Ribeiro1*
  • 1University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil
  • 2Universidade Federal de Uberlandia, Uberlândia, Brazil
  • 3Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora Faculdade de Medicina, Juiz de Fora, Brazil
  • 4Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho - Campus de Botucatu, Botucatu, Brazil
  • 5Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho - Campus de Bauru, Bauru, Brazil
  • 6Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
  • 7Universidade de Cruz Alta, Cruz Alta, Brazil
  • 8Faculdade IELUSC, Palhoça, Brazil
  • 9Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
  • 10Universidade Catolica de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
  • 11Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil
  • 12Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Select one of your emails

You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:

Notify me on publication

Please enter your email address:

If you already have an account, please login

You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here

Objective: We investigated the prevalence and factors associated with sarcopenia in patients on hemodialysis in Brazil. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis with baseline data from the SARC-HD multicenter study. Muscle strength was assessed by handgrip, muscle mass by calf circumference, and physical performance by the 4-m gait speed. Sarcopenia was diagnosed and staged as probable, confirmed, and severe. Associated factors were investigated with adjustment for confounders. Results: A total of 983 patients from 19 dialysis centers were analyzed. Prevalences of probable, confirmed, and severe sarcopenia were 12%, 9%, and 5%, respectively. Sarcopenia prevalence increased with age, ranging from 7% to 45% in males and from 4% to 21% in females. In the fully adjusted model, older age (≥60 years; adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 3.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.09–5.21), male sex (aOR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.13 – 2.77), white ethnicity (aOR: 1.88, 95% CI: 1.23–2.87), and diabetes as CKD etiology/comorbidity (aOR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.20–2.91), and catheter as vascular access (aOR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.00–2.41) were independently associated with higher odds of sarcopenia. Nevertheless, overweight (aOR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.24 – 0.60) and obesity (aOR: 0.11, 95% CI: 0.05 – 0.26) were associated with lower odds. After sensitivity analyses based on dialysis prescription, only older age, white ethnicity, overweight, and obesity remained independently associated with sarcopenia. Conclusions: One in four patients on hemodialysis had some stage of sarcopenia. Independent risk factors associated with sarcopenia were older age and white ethnicity, whereas overweight and obesity were protective factors.

Keywords: Calf circumference, Chronic Kidney Disease, Dialysis, Epidemiology, handgrip strength, Multicenter study

Received: 22 Jul 2025; Accepted: 03 Dec 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 P. Duarte, Nóbrega, Vogt, Pereira, Vieira, Silva, Disessa, Mondini, De Rosso Krug, Sant'helena, Bundchen, Bohlke, Adamoli, Lima, Inda-Filho, Avesani, Reboredo and Ribeiro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Heitor S. Ribeiro

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material