top of page

Diagnosis

Start with 3 Initial Screening Questions

Falling is one of the risks that should be considered as a serious risk caused by sarcopenia in daily living of senior patients. The CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: STEADI recommends to make questions about falling when you see patients 65 or older. It can be an initial interview to screen risks of sarcopenia.

07 Initial questions to senior patients.
SARC-F vertical.jpg
SARC-F.jpg
Anchor 1

MRI, DEXA or BIA Is Used for a Rigorous Diagnosis

Tools and criteria for the rigorous diagnosis of sarcopenia have been still debated. In 2014, the FNIH Sarcopenia Project suggested the cutpoints based on results of their multi-center study and discussion of the FNIH-NIA-FDA Sarcopenia Consensus Summit 2012. In such cutpoints, muscle mass is focused as well as muscle functional parameters.

 

However, it is not so easy to measure muscle mass in the real clinical practice, because the equipment to measure muscle mass, such as MRI, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) or bioimpedence analysis (BIA: a body composition scale), is not available in many clinics. In fact, in the 2012 summit, it was confirmed that it is much more important to pay attention to muscle function which leads to decreased QOL or mortality rather than strictness to muscle mass in the real clinical practice.

Anchor 2

References

  1. Brotto M. Lessons from the FNIH-NIA-FDA sarcopenia consensus summit. IBMS Bonekey. 2012 Nov; 9: 210.

  2. CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The STEADI website <www.cdc.gov/steadi/. As of October 20, 2017. 

  3. Studenski SA, et al. The FNIH sarcopenia project: rationale, study description, conference recommendations, and final estimates. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2014 May; 69(5): 547-58.

  4. Malmstrom TK and Morley JE.SARC-F: a simple questionnaire to rapidly diagnose sarcopenia.J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2013 Aug;14(8):531-2.

  5. McLean RR, et al. Criteria for clinically relevant weakness and low lean mass and their longitudinal association with incident mobility impairment and mortality: the foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) sarcopenia project. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2014 May;69(5):576-83.

  6. Janssen I, et al. Low relative skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) in older persons is associated with functional impairment and physical disability. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002 May;50(5):889-96.

  7.  Janssen I, et al. Skeletal muscle cutpoints associated with elevated physical disability risk in older men and women. Am J Epidemiol. 2004 Feb 15;159(4):413-21.

  8. Rolland Y, et al. Sarcopenia, calf circumference, and physical function of elderly women: a cross-sectional study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2003 Aug;51(8):1120-4.

  9. Cruz-Jentoft AJ, et al.; European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age Ageing. 2010 Jul; 39(4): 412-23. 

bottom of page