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Comparative Study
. 2013 Jun;35(3):871-81.
doi: 10.1007/s11357-012-9384-z.

Defining sarcopenia: the impact of different diagnostic criteria on the prevalence of sarcopenia in a large middle aged cohort

A Y Bijlsma  1 , C G M Meskers, C H Y Ling, M Narici, S E Kurrle, I D Cameron, R G J Westendorp, A B Maier
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Defining sarcopenia: the impact of different diagnostic criteria on the prevalence of sarcopenia in a large middle aged cohort

A Y Bijlsma et al. Age (Dordr). 2013 Jun.

Abstract

Sarcopenia, low muscle mass, is an increasing problem in our ageing society. The prevalence of sarcopenia varies extremely between elderly cohorts ranging from 7% to over 50%. Without consensus on the definition of sarcopenia, a variety of diagnostic criteria are being used. We assessed the degree of agreement between seven different diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia based on muscle mass and handgrip strength, described in literature. In this cross-sectional study, we included men (n=0325) and women (n=0329) with complete measurements of handgrip strength and body composition values as measured by bioimpedance analysis within the Leiden Longevity Study. Prevalence of sarcopenia was stratified by gender and age. In men (mean age 64.5 years), the prevalence of sarcopenia with the different diagnostic criteria ranged from 0% to 20.8% in the lowest age category (below 60 years), from 0%to 31.2% in the middle (60 to 69 years) and from 0% to 45.2% in the highest age category (above 70 years). In women (mean age 61.8 years), the prevalence of sarcopenia ranged from 0% to 15.6%, 0% to 21.8% and 0% to 25.8% in the lowest, middle and highest age category, respectively. Only one participant (0.2%) was identified having sarcopenia according to all diagnostic criteria that marked prevalence above 0%. We conclude that the prevalence of sarcopenia is highly dependent on the applied diagnostic criteria. It is necessary to reach a consensus on the definition of sarcopenia in order to make studies comparable and for implementation in clinical care.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Number of participants identified as having sarcopenia according to various definitions, represented by letter codes. A description of the codes can be found in Table 1. A total of 654 were evaluated. Definition C, in which no participants were sarcopenic, is not shown. In definition E and F, class I and II sarcopenia are combined. Two subjects, one in whom sarcopenia was diagnosed according to F, G and E, and one in whom sarcopenia was diagnosed according to B and D, are not shown in the figure
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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