SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1673755
This article is part of the Research TopicSports, Nutrition and Public Health: Analyzing their Interconnected ImpactsView all 33 articles
The Bidirectional Association between Depression and Sarcopenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Background: Sarcopenia, a geriatric syndrome characterized by progressive loss of muscle mass, strength, and physical performance, elevates risks of functional decline and mortality. This study aims to investigate the co-occurrence patterns between depression and sarcopenia and characterize their epidemiological linkages. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies examining depression and sarcopenia (published by July 12, 2024). Our review encompasses literature on sarcopenia prevalence, its co-occurrence with depression, and the odds ratio (OR) between these conditions. We performed statistical analyses using R. Results: Analysis of 36 studies demonstrated significantly higher pooled depression prevalence among sarcopenic individuals (0.24; 95% CI: 0.18-0.30; I ² =95.6%) compared to non-sarcopenic controls, with sarcopenia conferring increased depression likelihood (adjusted OR=1.49; 95% CI: 1.23-1.81; I ² =85.8%). Similar patterns emerged for possible sarcopenia (depression prevalence: 0.15; 95% CI: 0.11-0.19; I² 2 =86.4%; adjusted OR=1.42; 95% CI: 1.10-1.83; I ² =79.4%). Conversely, while sarcopenia prevalence was elevated in depression cohorts (0.20; 95% CI: 0.02-0.38; I ²=94.2%), the adjusted association was non-significant (OR=1.87; 95% CI: 0.74-4.71; I²=78.5%). Conclusion: Sarcopenia is significantly associated with higher depression prevalence and increased depression likelihood. While sarcopenia prevalence is elevated in depression populations, their bidirectional association requires further investigation. Future research should focus on elucidating underlying mechanisms.
Keywords: Sarcopenia, Depression, Meta, OR, Prevalence
Received: 26 Jul 2025; Accepted: 29 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Pan, Qiu, An and Li. 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:
Zhenmei An, anmhxnfm@163.com
Shuangqing Li, lsqhxjk@126.com
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