Prevalence of sarcopenia and frailty and their effects on health status and quality of life in older adults with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus

Daravan Rongmuang; Jeraporn Tongdee; Truong Thanh Nam

doi:10.2478/FON-2026-0028

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Prevalence of sarcopenia and frailty and their effects on health status and quality of life in older adults with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus

Frontiers of Nursing

Volume 13 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)

By: Daravan Rongmuang, Jeraporn Tongdee and Truong Thanh Nam

Open Access

|Jul 2026

Abstract

Objective

To determine the prevalence of sarcopenia and frailty in older adults with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and examine their effects on health status and quality of life (QoL).

Methods

A purposive sample of 280 older adults with uncontrolled T2DM was recruited in this descriptive correlational study. The research instruments included a demographic questionnaire, the SARC-F questionnaire, the FRAIL scale, a visual analog scale (VAS) assessing health status, and the WHOQOL questionnaire. Uncontrolled T2DM was defined as hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) >7% or fasting blood sugar >130 mg/dL after at least 8 h of fasting, in accordance with the American Diabetes Association guidelines. Sarcopenia and frailty were assessed using the SARC-F (≥4) and FRAIL scale (≥3), respectively. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results

The prevalence of sarcopenia and frailty was 11.4% and 5.4%, respectively. There was a statistically significant interaction effect between sarcopenia and frailty on health status, F (2, 274) = 23.71, P < 0.001, partial η² = 0.148, and QoL, F (2, 274) = 5.59, P = 0.004, partial η² = 0.039. There were significant main effects of sarcopenia and frailty on health status, F (1, 274) = 57.19, P < 0.001, and F (2, 274) = 40.53, P < 0.001, respectively. There were significant main effects of frailty on QoL F (2, 274) = 7.06, P = 0.001, but there were no statistically significant main effects of sarcopenia on QoL: F (1, 274) = 3.57, P = 0.06.

Conclusions

Early detection of sarcopenia and frailty in older adults with uncontrolled T2DM is essential to promoting health and QoL. Future studies should develop interventions to prevent and delay sarcopenia and frailty in this population.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/FON-2026-0028 | Journal eISSN: 2544-8994 | Journal ISSN: 2097-5368

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Language: English

Page range: 241 - 249

Submitted on: Jul 14, 2025

Accepted on: Aug 21, 2025

Published on: Jul 3, 2026

Published by: Shanxi Medical Periodical Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

frailty,

Related subjects:

Assistive professions, nursing

© 2026 Daravan Rongmuang, Jeraporn Tongdee, Truong Thanh Nam, published by Shanxi Medical Periodical Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 13 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)