Calf circumference value for sarcopenia screening among older adults with stroke

The Asia Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 (AWGS) recommended using the calf circumference (CC) cut-off values to facilitate the case-finding of sarcopenia. However, the validity of the proposed cut-offs has not been examined in older patients with stroke. This study investigated the validity of the AWGS-recommended CC cut-off values for identifying sarcopenia among older patients with stroke.

This cross-sectional study enrolled consecutive patients with stroke, aged 65 years and older, admitted to a convalescent rehabilitation ward. Sarcopenia was diagnosed based on the AWGS 2019 criteria. We drew a receiving operating characteristic curve to assess the ability of CC to predict sarcopenia diagnosis. Subsequently, we estimated the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, F-value, and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of the considered cut-off values.

We enrolled 256 patients (43 % women) (mean age, 76.6 ± 7.5 years). The prevalence of sarcopenia was 63.7 %. Among men who presented with CC < 34 cm (the AWGS-recommended cut-off value), sensitivity and specificity were 85 % and 66 %, respectively. Concurrently, estimates of accuracy, F-value, and MCC were the highest at cut-off value <34 cm. Among women, at <33 cm of the AWGS-recommended cut-off value, the sensitivity and specificity were 91 % and 28 %, respectively. At cut-off value <32 cm, sensitivity was maintained at 80 %, while specificity increased to 56 %; suggesting that this cut-off value might be a useful indicator for the case-finding of sarcopenia.

The AWGS-recommended CC cut-off values are valid. The predictive characteristics of sarcopenia differed among men and women with stroke.