Independent Associations of Stroke and Sarcopenia-Related Phenotype with Lower-Limb Strength and Gait: A 1:2 Matched Cohort Analysis

Background/Objectives: Whether stroke and sarcopenia relate to the same components of lower-limb function is unclear. We estimated each exposure’s mutually adjusted association with strength, gait performance, and gait variability, and their interaction.

Methods

Thirty-three stroke survivors were matched 1:2 to 66 controls (n = 99) and classified into operational sarcopenia-related phenotype groups by AWGS 2019 muscle-mass and gait-speed cut-offs, not diagnoses. Strength, spatiotemporal gait, and gait variability were analysed in rank-based additive MANCOVAs (Pillai’s trace; permutation within matched sets; Holm correction across domains). Further runs added gait speed, removed the phenotype, added weight, or substituted ASM/Ht2.