Social activity of patients with sarcopenic obesity and age-related pathology of the organ of vision

Introduction. Sarcopenic obesity and visual impairment increase the risk of developing certain functional deficits and reducing social activity in everyday life. However, social activity has been virtually ignored in the elderly population with age-related macular degeneration and sarcopenic obesity.

The purpose of the research is to assessment of social activity of patients with sarcopenic obesity and age-associated pathology of the organ of vision.

Materials and methods. To perform this study, two clinical groups were randomly selected, one of which consisted of one hundred thirty four patients with age-related macular degeneration and sarcopenic obesity. The control group consisted of 132 patients with sarcopenic obesity only. Determination of the body mass index and hand dynamometry were used to identify sarcopenic obesity. Social activity in everyday life was determined using the Lawton scale.

Results. The decrease in social activity in the compared groups is mainly due to difficulties in using transport — 0.52 ± 0.07 points with a combination of age-related macular degeneration and sarcopenic obesity compared to 0.78 ± 0.6 points (p < 0.01) in the control group. Making purchases — 0.62 ± 0.06 and 0.76 ± 0.08 points (p < 0.01) performing financial activities — 0.48 ± 0.05 and 0.61 ± 0.04 points (p < 0.001), respectively. In addition, sarcopenic obesity and age-related macular degeneration cause a statistically significant decrease in all types of social activity in everyday life with the exception of maintaining house (apartment) — 0.70 ± 0.06 points versus 0.73 ± 0.07 points (p > 0.05).

Research limitations. Study of social activity of elderly patients without comparison with other age groups.

Conclusion. The decline in social activity in elderly patients with age-related macular degeneration and sarcopenic obesity is more significant than with the impact of sarcopenic obesity alone. At the same time, the deterioration in social activity among patients with sarcopenic obesity and age-related macular degeneration occurs especially pronounced in the use of transport, making phone calls, shopping and conducting financial transactions.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was approved by the committee on Biomedical Ethics of the S.N. Fedorov National medical research center "MNTK Eye Microsurgery", Tambov (protocol no. 842/15 dated 12/25/2024).

Contribution of the authors:
Agarkov N.M. — concept and design of the study, editing;
Kopylov A.E. — collection and processing of the material, writing text.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of its final version.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: November 20, 2024 / Accepted: December 17, 2025 / Published: March 4, 2026

1. Tang X., Lian R., Li R., Jiang J., Yang M. Landscape and research trends of sarcopenic obesity research: A bibliometric analysis. Heliyon. 2024; 10(2): е24696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24696

2. Batsis J.A., Mackenzie T.A., Lopez-Jimenez F., Bartels S.J. Sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, and functional impairments in older adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination surveys 1994–2004. Nutr. Res. 2015; 35(12): 1031–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutres.2015.09.003

3. Agarkov N.M., Kopylov A.E., Titov A.A., Negrebetsky V.A., Osmanov R.E. Features of geriatric status in patients with arterial hypertension and coronary heart disease (review). Nauchnye rezul’taty biomeditsinskikh issledovanii. 2024; 10(1): 112–25. https://doi.org/10.18413/2658-6533-2024-10-1-0-7 (in Russian)

4. Yoshimura Y., Wakabayashi H., Nagano F., Bise T., Shimazu S., Kudo M., et al. Sarcopenic obesity is associated with activities of daily living and home discharge in post-acute rehabilitation. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 2020; 21(10): 1475–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2020.03.029

5. Dondero K.R., Falvey J.R., Beamer B.A., Addison O. Geriatric vulnerabilities among obese older adults with and without sarcopenia: findings from a Nationally Representative Cohort Study. J. Geriatr. Phys. Ther. 2022; 46(3): 168–73. https://doi.org/10.1519/JPT.0000000000000358

6. Borkenstein A.F., Borkenstein E.M., Murphy K., Primo S.A. Testing activities of daily living (ADL) in patients with age-related macular degeneration undergoing cataract surgery: lessons learned from the past and development of a new quality of life (QOL) test. Clin. Ophthalmol. 2022; 16: 385–7. https://doi.org/10.2147/opth.s356423

7. Lev I.V., Agarkov N.M., Starodubtseva L.V. Geriatric management tactics for patients with diabetic retinopathy. Nauchnye rezul’taty biomeditsinskikh issledovanii. 2023; 9(1): 129–41. https://doi.org/10.18413/2658-6533-2023-9-1-0-9 https://elibrary.ru/ishbbb (in Russian)

8. Grzybowski A., Wang J., Mao F., Wang D., Wang N. Intraocular vision-improving devices in age-related macular degeneration. Ann. Transl. Med. 2020; 8(22): 1549. https://doi.org/10.21037/atm-20-5851

9. Cruz-Jentoft A.J., Bahat G., Bauer J., Boirie Y., Bruyère O., Cederholm T., et al. Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age Ageing. 2019; 48(1): 16–31. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afy169

10. Clinical recommendations "Age-related macular degeneration". Moscow; 2021. (in Russian)

11. Gorelik S.G., Ilnitskii A.N., Proshchaev K.I., Pavlenko E.V., Startseva O.N., Krivtsunov A.N. Questionnaires and scales in gerontology and geriatrics. Gerontologiya. 2021; 9(1): 1–91. (in Russian)

12. Gao Q., Hu K., Yan C., Zhao B., Mei F., Chen F., et al. Associated factors of Sarcopenia in Community-Dwelling older adults: a systematic review and Meta-analysis. Nutrients. 2021; 13(12): 4291. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13124291

13. Bilski J., Pierzchalski P., Szczepanik M., Bonior J., Zoladz J.A. Multifactorial mechanism of Sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity. Role of physical exercise, microbiota and myokines. Cells. 2022; 11(1): 160. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11010160

14. Perez-Sousa M.A., Venegas-Sanabria L.C., Chavarro-Carvajal D.A., Cano-Gutierrez C.A., Izquierdo M., Correa-Bautista J.E., et al. Gait speed as a mediator of the effect of Sarcopenia on dependency in activities of daily living. J. Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2019; 10(5): 1009–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.12444

15. Bahat G., Kilic C., Ozkok S., Ozturk S., Karan M.A. Associations of sarcopenic obesity versus sarcopenia alone with functionality. Clin. Nutr. 2021; 40(5): 2851–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2021.04.002

16. Hirani V., Naganathan V., Blyth F., Le Couteur D.G., Seibel M.J., Waite L.M., et al. Longitudinal associations between body composition, sarcopenic obesity and outcomes of frailty, disability, institutionalisation and mortality in community-dwelling older men: The Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project. Age Aging. 2017; 46(3): 413–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afw214

17. Gopinath B., Liew G., Burlutsky G., Mitchell P. Age-related macular degeneration and 5-year incidence of impaired activities of daily living. Maturitas. 2014; 77(3): 263–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2013.12.001

18. Tan A.C., Peterson C.L., Htoon H.M., Tan L.L.Y., Tan Y., Sim K.T., et al. Development and validation of performance-based assessment of daily living tasks in age-related macular degeneration. Transl. Vis. Sci. Technol. 2024; 13(6): 9. https://doi.org/10.1167/tvst.13.6.9

19. Agarkov N.M., Lev I.V., Osmanov R.E. Social activity in older people with visual impairment. Zdravookhranenie Rossiiskoi Federatsii. 2024; 68(1): 39–43. https://doi.org/10.47470/0044-197X-2024-68-1-39-43 https://elibrary.ru/zzhjft (in Russian)