Original Article

Identification of Probable sarcopenia based on SARC-F and SARC-CalF in older adults from a low-resource setting

Claudia L. Vidal-Cuellar^1,2, Guiliana Mas^1,2, Pamela Ayamamani-Torres², Toshio Yazawa², Oscar Rosas-Carrasco³, Tania Tello^1,2,4

1. Gerontology Institute, Cayetano Heredia University, Lima, Peru
2. School of Medicine, Cayetano Heredia University, Lima, Peru
3. Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de Mexico, Health Department, Mexico City, Mexico
4. Cayetano Heredia Hospital, Lima, Peru

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Keywords: Low-resource setting, Probable sarcopenia, SARC-F, SARC-CalF, Sarcopenia

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Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the frequency of probable sarcopenia and to compare the performance of SARC-F and SARC-CalF for detecting this condition in outpatient older adults from a low-resource setting. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional study in outpatient older adults aged ≥60 years attending a hospital in Peru, between August 2019 and February 2020. Probable sarcopenia was defined as low handgrip strength (<27 kg in men and <16 in women). We used SARC-F and SARC-CalF with their standard cut-off points (≥4 and ≥11, respectively). Low calf circumference was defined as ≤33 cm in women and ≤34 cm in men. We performed sensitivity and specificity analyses. Results: We included 206 older adults, 102 (49.5%) aged ≥75 years old and 140 (67. 9%) females. Probable sarcopenia was present in 36.40% of the participants. SARC-F ≥4 was observed in 29.61% and SARC-CalF ≥11 in 41.26% of the population. SARC-F≥4 showed 41.33% sensitivity and 77.10% specificity, whereas SARC-Calf ≥11 had 50.67% sensitivity and 64.12% specificity. Conclusion: We found that one out of three of the population had probable sarcopenia. SARC-Calf showed superior but still low sensitivity than SARC-F, while both had moderate specificity and thus may be useful for ruling out the disease in clinical practice.

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