Introduction: Sarcopenia and depressive symptoms are common disorders in older people; however, there is lacking for studies focus on the association between sarcopenia and depressive symptoms by gender. Thus, we investigate gender differences in the association between sarcopenia and depressive symptoms.
Methods: 1119 participants aged ≥ 65 were included in our study. Sarcopenia was defined as no sarcopenia, possible sarcopenia, general sarcopenia, and severe sarcopenia by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 consensus. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale-15. The logistic regression analysis was used to identify the association between sarcopenia and depressive symptoms.
Results: No sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia were significantly inversely and positively associated with depressive symptoms only in women. In men, low appendicular skeletal muscle mass index was significantly inversely associated with depressive symptoms. In women, low gait speed was significantly inversely associated with depressive symptoms, while poor 5-time chair stand test was significantly positively associated with depressive symptoms.
Conclusion: Our study found that sarcopenia and its diagnostic elements were significantly associated with depressive symptoms in men or women. Interventions for muscle mass and physical performance are necessary for sarcopenia to prevent the development of depressive symptoms timely.

Keywords: sarcopenia, depressive symptoms, gender difference, suburban area, older people