Muscle and cardiometabolic health in community-living adults with type 2 diabetes

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a chronic disease associated with alterations in muscle quantity and quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate metabolic and muscular health indicators in adults with T2DM. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in outpatients of a primary care health center diagnosed with T2DM. The muscle health indicators were muscle mass (MM) and handgrip strength (HGS). MM was assessed through calf circumference (CC) corrected by body mass index (BMI); low muscle MM was determined with values ​​≤34 cm for men and ≤33 cm for women. HGS was assessed with a digital dynamometer and dynapenia was identified with values ​​below the 10th percentile of HGS for age and sex. The cardiometabolic health indicators were waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and neck circumference (NC). Cardiometabolic risk was identified as an WHtR ≥ 0.5 and/or a NC of 39.0 and 32.9 cm for men and women, respectively. Results: A total of 60 participants with a mean age of 50.98 ± 11.86 years were evaluated. 67% (n=40) were female. 98.33% (n=59) and 65% (n=39) presented high cardiometabolic risk according to WHtR and NC, respectively. 73.33% (n=44) presented low MM and 28.33% (n=17) had dynapenia. A positive and significant correlation was found between NC and BMI (r=0.342; p = < 0.001) and between NC and waist circumference (r = 0.486; p = < 0.001). Conclusions: A high cardiometabolic risk profile according to the NC and the WHtR, as well as a high prevalence of low MM and dynapenia was found in this studied population.