Impact of Exercise Training with Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) on Sarcopenia and Dynapenia in Older Adults: A Review of the Current Literature

Poster Presentation
Paper ID : 1459-SSRC
Authors
1دانشجو دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد
2استادیار آسیب شناسی ورزشی و حرکات اصلاحی، دانشکده علوم ورزشی، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد
3تربیت بدنی(درمانگری ورزشی و توانبخشی حرکتی)
4عضو هیئت علمی دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد دانشیار گروه فیزیولوژی ورزشی
Abstract
Background
Age-related changes in skeletal muscle size, strength, and physical function can lead to pathologic conditions in the geriatric population known as sarcopenia and dynapenia which are defined as age-related declines in muscle size and strength, respectively. These age-related physical changes predispose older individuals to increased risks of multiple adverse health outcomes including falls, severe injuries, longtime hospitalization, physical activity restriction, poor quality of life, and high mortality. It has been shown that regular physical activity and exercise training are the most effective approaches to fight against the physical changes related to aging. However, due to physical limitations, a majority of older adults may not meet the recommended exercise doses. Therefore, the implementation of a novel and time-efficient exercise training technology known as electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), and its impact on muscle size, strength, and physical function in older adults should be assessed.
Aim
This study aims to review and summarize research findings on the impact of exercise training with electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) on sarcopenia and dynapenia in older adults.
Materials and Methods
The present study is a review of the existing literature on the impact of exercise training with electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) on sarcopenia and dynapenia in older adults. In this review, all articles were thoroughly searched from January 2011 to January 2024 in electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and SID using including the “sarcopenia”, “dynapenia”, “electrical muscle stimulation”, “EMS”, and “exercise”. The search strategy of this review was restricted to articles that included only the geriatric population (individuals aged 65 and over).

Results
A total of twelve articles met the inclusion criteria. The included studies have revealed that exercise training with EMS technology has significant positive effects on muscle size, strength, and physical function which provide evidence that EMS is a safe method to impede sarcopenia and dynapenia in older adults.
Conclusion
In the present review article, we concluded that the combined exercise intervention program using EMS can be effective in improving muscle size, strength, and physical function. Nevertheless, EMS should not be implemented as a replacement for exercise training in itself.
Keywords