The decline in skeletal muscle mass - sarcopenia in seniors

As the age increases, the physical fitness of seniors decreases. This shows the fragility of their body. Managing everyday activities becomes increasingly more difficult for them. Result of this is reduced self-sufficiency of the seniors, which leads to reduced mobility and to the greater loss of muscle mass and higher dependence on professional care. Aging is accompanied by loss of muscle mass and muscle strength - sarcopenia. This is one of the main causes of geriatric fragility. Sarcopenia presents a serious health problem with both social and economic consequences. The term sarcopenia (from Greek words sarx - meaning flesh referring to muscle and penia - loss) was first used in 1989 by Irwin Rosenberg to describe the loss of muscle mass accompanying aging. Exactly defining the term sarcopenia has helped explain this gradual loss of muscle mass. Three objectives were set in the thesis. The first objective was to find out whether sarcopenia reduces the quality of life in the elderly. The second goal was to determine, which quality of life tests are suitable for testing sarcopenia and the last one was whether the SARC - F questionnaire predicts sarcopenia.Quantitative research was used for the empirical part of this work. Data collection was performed using a method of a questionnaire. These were standardized questionnaires aimed at assessing sarcopenia and quality of life. The research was carried out with a total of 77 respondents with sarcopenia and respondents without sarcopenia. The quantitative part of the research was statistically processed using the MS Excel computer program