The comparison of SARC-F with other screening tools for sarcopenia

ABSTRACT

Objective(s) SARC-F1 is recommended by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) for sarcopenia case finding2. A number of other screening tools have been devised. We aim to present (i) SARC-F in the context of other screening measures for sarcopenia, (ii) their comparison to SARC-F in terms of the psychometric properties but also feasibility in different clinical scenarios. Material and methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched for the SARC-F original papers and conference s, and for the other screening measures for sarcopenia. The SARC-F national validation paper by Piotrowicz et al.3 will serve as an anchor for the discussion of the topic. Results: Eleven screening methods for sarcopenia case finding have been identified. We present their applicability in the various settings and different clinical conditions. This includes the COVID-19 pandemic and an emerging concept of acute sarcopenia due to SARSCoV- 2 infection. Conclusion(s) As compared with other sarcopenia screening tools, SARC-F is more versatile, as it can be self-administered, assessed during a telephone interview, or used in subjects of varying body-build, or body-build affected by pathologies such as heart failure, liver failure, hypoalbuminemia.