{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T10:08:04Z","timestamp":1784801284729,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784764800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc University","award":["TSA-2026-5122"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TSA-2026-5122"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated in muscle weakness and functional decline among older adults. However, its association with sarcopenia-related impairment, particularly when evaluated using readily available nutritional and functional indicators in routine clinical practice, remains incompletely understood. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 148 adults aged \u226565 years who attended a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation outpatient clinic. Sarcopenia-related risk was classified using an EWGSOP2-informed operational framework based on handgrip strength together with nutritional and functional indicators available in the retrospective dataset. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations were measured using a chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Group comparisons, correlation analyses, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: The prevalence of probable sarcopenia and probable sarcopenia with nutritional\/functional risk indicators was significantly higher among participants with vitamin D deficiency. Serum 25(OH)D levels differed significantly across the three study groups (p &lt; 0.001). Post-hoc Tukey analysis demonstrated significantly lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations in the probable sarcopenia with nutritional\/functional risk indicators group than in both the no sarcopenia and probable sarcopenia groups (both p &lt; 0.001). Serum 25(OH)D levels were moderately and inversely correlated with sarcopenia-related risk severity (r = \u22120.48, p &lt; 0.001). Lower vitamin D levels were also associated with reduced serum albumin levels and a higher prevalence of falls and assistive walking device use. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, vitamin D deficiency remained independently associated with sarcopenia-related risk after adjustment for age and sex. Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with greater sarcopenia-related risk severity and poorer functional status in older adults. Assessment of vitamin D status may therefore represent a simple, inexpensive, and readily available tool for identifying individuals at increased risk of sarcopenia-related impairment in routine geriatric practice. Prospective studies incorporating direct measures of muscle quantity and standardized physical performance assessments are needed to confirm these findings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina62081430","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T09:11:26Z","timestamp":1784797886000},"page":"1430","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated with Greater Sarcopenia-Related Risk Severity and Functional Decline in Older Adults: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Tulay","family":"Yildirim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Inonu University School of Medicine, Malatya 44280, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oguzhan","family":"Yildirim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, Inonu University School of Medicine, Malatya 44280, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammed Mustafa","family":"Turker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Inonu University School of Medicine, Malatya 44280, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-5045-7340","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Omer Faruk","family":"Calan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Inonu University School of Medicine, Malatya 44280, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ali","family":"Sahin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Inonu University School of Medicine, Malatya 44280, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bekir","family":"Agcakoyunlu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Inonu University School of Medicine, Malatya 44280, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]},"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","volume":"39","author":"Baeyens","year":"2010","journal-title":"Age Ageing"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1093\/ageing\/afy169","article-title":"Sarcopenia: Revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis (EWGSOP2)","volume":"48","author":"Bahat","year":"2019","journal-title":"Age Ageing"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"990S","DOI":"10.1093\/jn\/127.5.990S","article-title":"Sarcopenia: Origins and clinical relevance","volume":"127","author":"Rosenberg","year":"1997","journal-title":"J. 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