A Pragmatic Two-Step Screening Algorithm for Sarcopenia and Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Geriatric Medicine

Background:

• Sarcopenia and physical frailty are common geriatric syndromes in older adults, often co-occurring.
• Early detection in community settings is challenging due to resource limitations and lack of simple diagnostic tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the prevalence and overlap of sarcopenia and frailty in a public health screening program.
• To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a pragmatic two-step screening algorithm for sarcopenia.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study of 256 community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years.
• Utilized SARC-F questionnaire, handgrip strength, and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).
• Sarcopenia defined by EWGSOP2 criteria; frailty by Fried phenotype.

Main Results:

• Prevalence of sarcopenia was 14.5% and frailty was 12.1%, with significant overlap (77.4% of frail individuals had sarcopenia).
• The two-step algorithm showed high accuracy (AUC 0.913) for sarcopenia detection, reducing BIA use by 53.9%.
• Older age, low BMI, physical inactivity, and higher SARC-F scores were associated with sarcopenia.

Conclusions:

• A simple, function-centered two-step approach allows for efficient and scalable identification of sarcopenia and frailty.
• This method supports early preventive strategies to maintain physical function in older adults.
• The algorithm demonstrates excellent diagnostic performance and resource efficiency in community settings.