title: Performance of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People algorithm in screening older adults for muscle mass assessment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a lack of consensus on the diagnosis of sarcopenia. A screening and diagnostic algorithm was proposed by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the performance of the EWGSOP algorithm in determining the proportion of subjects suspected of having sarcopenia and selected to undergo subsequent muscle mass (MM) measurement.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cohorts, Frailty in Brazilian Older People Study-Rio de Janeiro (FIBRA-RJ), Brazil; Coyoacan Cohort (CC), Mexico City, Mexico; and Toledo Study for Healthy Aging (TSHA), Toledo, Spain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three thousand two hundred and sixty community-dwelling individuals, 65 years and older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Initially, the EWGSOP algorithm was applied using its originally proposed cut-off values for gait speed and handgrip strength; in the second step, values tailored for the specific cohorts were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using the originally suggested EWGSOP cut-off points, 83.4% of the total cohort (94.4% in TSHA, 75.5% in FIBRA-RJ, 67.8% in CC) would have been considered as suspected of sarcopenia. Adapted cut-off values lowered the proportion of abnormal results to 34.2% (quintile-based approach) and 23.71% (z-score approach).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The algorithm proposed by the EWGSOP is of limited clinical utility in screening older adults for sarcopenia due to the high proportion of subjects selected to further undergo MM assessment. Tailoring cut-off values to specific characteristics of the population being studied reduces the number of people selected for MM assessment, probably improving the performance of the algorithm. Further research including the objective measure of MM is needed to determine the accuracy of these specific cut-off points.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberto Alves
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Lourenço
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Epidemiologic Research, Instituto Nacional de Geriatría, Periferico Sur 2767, Colonia San Jeronimo Lidice, Delegacion Magdalena Contreras, Mexico, Distrito Federal 10200, Mexico.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez-Zepeda
authors.affiliation: General Direction, National Institute of Geriatrics, México, Distrito Federal, Mexico.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Robledo
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Geriatría, Complejo Hospitalario de Toledo, Toledo, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: García-García
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Geriatría, Hospital Universitario de Getafe, Getafe, Spain.
authors.forename: Leocadio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rodríguez Mañas
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000465:Algorithms; D001938:Brazil; D019091:Critical Pathways; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013030:Spain
keywords: aged; clinical utility; diagnostic tests; frailty; gait speed; handgrip strength; older people; sarcopenia