{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,18]],"date-time":"2026-10-18T04:31:49Z","timestamp":1792297909588,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,12,1]],"date-time":"2018-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1543622400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The prevalence of sarcopenia in rheumatic diseases has been evaluated in single diseases using various diagnostic approaches, generating conflicting data on the pathogenetic mechanism(s). Herein, we evaluated both muscle mass index (MMI) and muscle strength to assess sarcopenia and presarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Moreover, we evaluated the possible impact of disease\/patient-related characteristics, therapeutic regimens, and nutritional aspects on sarcopenia. The present study included 168 patients of both genders, aged 40\u201375 years. All patients underwent a nutritional evaluation, physical activity level assessment, rheumatologic evaluation, and an MMI and muscle strength assessment. The prevalence of sarcopenia was about 20% in all the three rheumatologic diseases, whereas presarcopenia was significantly different in RA, PsA and AS (p = 0.006). At multivariate analysis, only age \u226560 years and the presence of a disability were associated with a significantly increased risk of sarcopenia (p = 0.006 and p = 0.01, respectively), while a higher C-reactive protein did not reach statistical significance. Sarcopenia is similar in RA, PsA and AS, whereas presarcopenia significantly differs in these three diseases. Disease activity\/inflammation and nutritional aspects do not influence sarcopenia, while age \u226560 years and the presence of a disability significantly increase the risk of sarcopenia.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm7120504","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,12,3]],"date-time":"2018-12-03T06:02:09Z","timestamp":1543816929000},"page":"504","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":84,"title":["Sarcopenia in Patients with Rheumatic Diseases: Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"7","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8284-5127","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michele","family":"Barone","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Teresa","family":"Viggiani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Grazia","family":"Anelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rosalinda","family":"Fanizzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7233-0437","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Orsola","family":"Lorusso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Lopalco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Cantarini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center of Systemic Autoinflammatory Diseases and Beh\u1e09et\u2019s Disease Clinic, Department of Medical Sciences, Surgery and Neurosciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2026-1200","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alfredo","family":"Di Leo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Lapadula","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0474-5344","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Florenzo","family":"Iannone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,12,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"412","DOI":"10.1093\/ageing\/afq034","article-title":"Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: Report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People","volume":"39","author":"Baeyens","year":"2010","journal-title":"Age Ageing"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"957","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dld.2017.07.004","article-title":"Obesity as predictor of postoperative outcomes in liver transplant candidates: Review of the literature and future perspectives","volume":"49","author":"Barone","year":"2017","journal-title":"Dig. 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