Screening sarcopenia through SARC-F in postmenopausal women: a single-center study from South America

Objective: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of postmenopausal women at high risk of sarcopenia and to compare their quality of life (QOL) with those at low risk using the SARC-F questionnaire. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of postmenopausal women who attended a menopause clinic in Colombia. The risk of sarcopenia was determined through the SARC-F questionnaire; a score ≥4 was considered high risk. The Menopause Rating Scale, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) tool were applied. Results: A total of 112 postmenopausal women with an average age of 68.4 ± 8.5 years were included. The prevalence of women at high risk of sarcopenia was 15.2% (n = 17) (95% confidence interval: 9.7; 23.0). Among the high-risk group there was a higher proportion of women with severe symptoms in the three domains when compared to the low-risk group (somatic 7% vs. 24%, psychological 15% vs. 44%, and urogenital 28% vs. 53%; p < 0.05). A tendency to a lower physical performance was found in the high-risk group (SPPB: 8 [interquartile range: 6-11] vs. SPPB: 10 [interquartile range: 8-11), p = 0.059). Conclusion: Our results suggest that women with high risk of sarcopenia have a poor QOL. The SARC-F questionnaire is a brief and non-invasive screening tool to detect postmenopausal women at high risk of sarcopenia.