Diagnostic Criteria of Sarcopenia and Their Associations With Functional Performance in Older Adults

Sarcopenia, characterized by age-related muscle loss, impacts functional performance and mobility. This study compares sarcopenia prevalence and physical fitness outcomes among older adults using four criteria from European and Asian Working Groups.

A total of 377 community-dwelling older adults all of Taiwanese ethnicity, were recruited for this study. They completed seven functional assessment tests. Descriptive statistics and various tests were used to compare variables between older adults with and without sarcopenia. Correlation and logistic regression analyses, along with the area under the curve, were performed to evaluate relationships between sarcopenia criteria and functional assessments, as well as the impact of functional performance on sarcopenia classification. Statistical significance was set at p < .05.

The prevalence of sarcopenia varied with different criteria: European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP)-2 (3.7%), EWGSOP-1 (39.0%), Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS)-2 (11.1%), and AWGS-1 (6.6%). The study found generally low but statistically significant correlations between functional tests and sarcopenia factors. The receiver operating characteristic analysis results indicated that the functional test set by logistic regression model achieved an area under the curve of 0.787 under EWGSOP-2, 0.686 under EWGSOP-1, 0.728 under AWGS-2, and 0.751 under AWGS-1. Patients with sarcopenia consistently performed worse in functional tests, and area under the curve values indicated the effectiveness of functional tests in distinguishing sarcopenia.

This study highlights the variability in sarcopenia prevalence and functional implications among older adults using different European and Asian criteria, emphasizing the importance of context-driven diagnostic criteria. Significance/Implications: The findings of this study can highlight the need for selecting appropriate sarcopenia criteria to enhance screening accuracy, functional assessment, and targeted interventions for older adults in clinical practice.