Prevalence of sarcopenia in older women and level of agreement between the diagnostic instruments proposed by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2)

Prevalence of sarcopenia in older women and level of agreement between the diagnostic instruments proposed by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2)

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, March 2023

36906535

Daiana Vieira Sutil, Adriana Netto Parentoni, Leonardo Augusto Da Costa Teixeira, Bruno de Souza Moreira, Amanda Aparecida Oliveira Leopoldino, Vanessa Amaral Mendonça, Ana Cristina Rodrigues Lacerda, Ana Lúcia Danielewicz, Núbia Carelli Pereira de Avelar

The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2) proposed the use of different diagnostic tools to assess sarcopenia. This study aimed to determine prevalence rates of sarcopenia according to the diagnostic instruments proposed by EWGSOP2 and to assess their level of agreement in older Brazilian women. A cross-sectional study with 161 community-dwelling older Brazilian women. Probable sarcopenia was assessed through Handgrip Strength (HGS) and the 5-times sit-to-stand test (5XSST). In addition to reduced strength, Appendicular Skeletal Muscle Mass (ASM) (obtained by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and ASM/height² were considered for diagnosis confirmation. Sarcopenia severity was determined by reduced muscle strength and mass and poor functional performance assessed by Gait Speed (GS), Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), and Timed Up and Go test (TUG). McNemar's test and Cochran's Q-test were used to compare sarcopenia prevalence. Cohen's Kappa and Fleiss's Kappa tests were used to assess the level of agreement. The prevalence of probable sarcopenia was significantly different (p < 0.05) when using HGS (12.8%) and 5XSST (40.6%). Regarding confirmed sarcopenia, the prevalence was lower when using ASM/height² than with ASM. Regarding severity, the use of SPPB resulted in a higher prevalence in relation to GS and TUG. There were differences in the prevalence rates of sarcopenia and low agreement between the diagnostic instruments proposed by the EWGSOP2. The findings suggest that these issues must be considered in the discussion on the concept and assessment of sarcopenia, which could ultimately help to better identify patients with this disease in different populations.