Evaluation of Four Methods for the Assessment of Sarcopenia in Older Adults in Nursing Homes

Abstract

We aimed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness and applicability of using calf circumference (CC), strength, need for assistance with walking, rising from a sitting position, climbing stairs, and the incidence of falls (SARC-F), as well as SARC-F plus CC (SARC-CalF) and the Ishii test, for assessing sarcopenia in older adult nursing home occupants. In this cross-sectional study, the diagnostic criteria of the AWGS2019 were used as the standard, and the accuracy of the four screening methods determined by indicators, including sensitivity, specificity, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, positive predictive values (PPV), and negative predictive values (NPV). One hundred and ninety-nine older adults, 97 male and 102 female, were included. The prevalence of sarcopenia was 48.7%. Over all the participants, the sensitivity and specificity of CC were 74.22% and 51.96%, respectively, and 40.21% and 83.33%, respectively, for SARC-F. The use of SARC-CalF raised the SARC-F sensitivity (71.14%) while reducing the specificity (60.78%). The Ishii test had a sensitivity of 89.7% and a specificity of 74.51%. The PPV and NPV of CC, SARC-F, SARC-CalF, Ishii test were 0.6/0.68, 0.7/0.59, 0.55/0.63, and 0.77/0.88, respectively. The areas under the curve for CC, SARC-F, SARC-CalF, and the Ishii test were 0.67(95%CI, 0.59–0.74), 0.71(95%CI, 0.64–0.79), 0.71(95%CI, 0.64–0.79), and 0.86 (95% CI,0.81–0.92), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of CC, SARC-F, SARC-CalF, and the Ishii test for sarcopenia screening in males were 71.69%/56.41%, 29.31%/79.49%, 67.24%/64.10%, and 94.83%/56.41%, respectively, and in females were 79.49%/49.21%, 56.41%/85.71%, 76.92%/58.73%, and 82.05%/85.71%, respectively. The PPV and NPV of CC, SARC-F, SARC-CalF, and the Ishii test in males were 0.71/0.56, 0.68/0.43, 0.74/0.57, and 0.76/0.88, respectively, while in females the values were 0.49/0.79, 0.71/0.76, 0.54/0.8, and 0.78/0.89, respectively. The areas under the curve for CC, SARC-F, SARC-CalF, and the Ishii test in males were 0.7(95%CI, 0.59–0.8), 0.63(95%CI, 0.52–0.75), 0.68(95%CI, 0.57–0.8), and 0.86(95% CI, 0.78–0.94), respectively, and in females 0.69(95%CI, 0.58–0.8), 0.81(95%CI, 0.72–0.89), 0.76(95%CI, 0.67–0.86), and 0.85 (95%CI, 0.77–0.94), respectively. The overall screening ability of the Ishii test for sarcopenia was superior to that of the CC, SARC-F, and SARC-CalF in older adults in nursing homes.