Abstract: Aging Clinical and Experimental Research (2022) 34:223–234 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-021-01991-z ORIGINAL ARTICLE Frailty but not sarcopenia nor malnutrition increases the risk of developing COVID‑19 in older community‑dwelling adults Laetitia Lengelé1 · Médéa Locquet1 · Michel Moutschen2 · Charlotte Beaudart1,3 · Jean‑François Kaux3,4 · Sophie Gillain5 · Jean‑Yves Reginster1 · Olivier Bruyère1,3,4 Received: 16 July 2021 / Accepted: 25 September 2021 / Published online: 23 October 2021 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 Abstract Background The identification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk factors is requested to implement prevention strategies. Aim To explore the associations between the COVID-19 incidence and malnutrition, sarcopenia, and frailty, identified as potential risk factors in previous cross-sectional studies. Methods Malnutrition, sarcopenia, and frailty were assessed at the last available follow-up from the Sarcopenia and Physical Impairments with Advancing Age (SarcoPhAge) cohort (i.e., the fifth year that ended in 2019) according to the MiniNutritional Assessment short-form, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2), and the Fried criteria, respectively. Information regarding the COVID-19 was gathered by phone calls interviews in April 2021 to measure its self-declared incidence. Adjusted Cox regressions and Kaplan–Meier curves were performed. Results The present study included 241 participants [median age 75.6 (73.0–80.6) years, 63.1% women]. Among them, 27 participants (11.2%) developed the non-fatal Covid-19. No significant increased risks of COVID-19 were observed in patients with malnutrition [adjusted HR 1.14 (0.26–5.07)] and sarcopenia [adjusted HR 1.25 (0.35–4.42)]. Nevertheless, the incidence of COVID-19 was significantly higher in frail (44.4%) than in robust participants (8.5%) [Adjusted HR 7.01 (2.69–18.25)], which was confirmed by the Kaplan–Meier curves (p < 0.001). Among the frailty syndrome components, a low physical activity level was the only one significantly associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 [adjusted HR 5.18 (1.37–19.54)]. Conclusion Despite some limitations in the methodology of this study (i.e., limited sample size, COVID-19 incidence selfreported and not assessed systematically using objective measurements) requiring careful consideration, an increased risk to develop COVID-19 was observed in the presence of the frailty syndrome. Further investigations are needed to elaborate on our findings. Keywords Malnutrition · Sarcopenia · Frailty · COVID-19 · SarcoPhAge * Laetitia Lengelé llengele@uliege.be 1 2 Division of Public Health, Epidemiology and Health Economics, WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Aspects of Musculoskeletal Health and Aging, University of Liège, CHU-Sart Tilman, Quartier Hôpital, Avenue Hippocrate 13 (Bât. B23), 4000 Liège, Belgium 3 Physical, Rehabilitation Medicine and Sports Traumatology, SportS2, University Hospital of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium 4 Department of Sport Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium 5 Geriatrics Department, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium Department of Infectious Diseases and General Internal Medicine, CHU Sart-Tilman, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium 13 Vol.:(0123456789)