Background: COVID-19 survivors may have high risks of developing sarcopenia, which is associated to handicap, poor quality of life, higher healthcare costs, increased risk of falls, increased mortality (1).

Objectives: To assess sarcopenia rate (which has not been described yet) following COVID-19 hospitalization and to highlights features associated with sarcopenic vs. non-sarcopenic patients.

Methods: Major confirmed COVID-19 patients undergoing intensive care unit (ICU) or Pneumology Department admission in Strasbourg University Hospital between March and June 2020 were prospectively included. Muscle and cardio-respiratory evaluations were performed 3 months after discharge. Sarcopenic patients were compared to non-sarcopenic ones. A second muscle assessment 6 months after discharge was performed in patients with pathologic muscle tests.

Results: 127 patients were included, 39 (30.7%) not requiring ICU care, 88 (69.3%) requiring ICU care. The cohort consisted of 71% male patients, with a median age of 63 years [28-82]. Forty-one-percent were obese (BMI>30 kg/m ² ). Most individuals had preexisting comorbidities (82 patients, 70%), mainly hypertension and diabetes mellitus. The median total hospital stay duration was 22 days and up to 89 days. At the 3 months assessment, 17/127 (13%) patients were diagnosed with sarcopenia which comprised 6/17 (35%) severe sarcopenia (4.7% of the total cohort). At the 6 months assessment, only 4/15 (27%) of the initial sarcopenic patients remained sarcopenic (3% of the total cohort) and 3 of these 4 patients had severe sarcopenia. BMI (26,3 vs. 29,3, p =0.03), COPD (20% vs. 3%, p= 0.03), comorbidities (93% vs. 67%, p =0.04), total hospital stay duration (33 vs. 20 days, p =0.03) and ICU stay duration (33 vs. 13 days, p =0.01) were significantly associated with sarcopenic vs. no sarcopenic patients. However, there was no significant difference concerning cardio-pulmonary evaluations between these two groups.

Conclusion: We here highlighted a sarcopenia prevalence at 3 and 6 months following a hospitalization for COVID-19 of 13% and 3% respectively, occurring mainly in patients with comorbidities. Sarcopenia was not associated to worse cardio-pulmonary results in comparison with non-sarcopenic patients.

REFERENCES:

[1]Di Filippo L, De Lorenzo R, D’Amico M, Sofia V, Roveri L, Mele R, et al. COVID-19 is associated with clinically significant weight loss and risk of malnutrition, independent of hospitalisation: A post-hoc analysis of a prospective cohort study. Clinical Nutrition [Internet]. oct 2020. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0261561420305896

Disclosure of Interests: None declared