The establishment and validation of the Chinese version of SARC-F scale for sarcopenia screening among elderly population: a multicenter study / 中华临床营养杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To establish the Chinese version of (strength, assistance with walking, rise from a chair, climb stairs and falls, SARC-F) scale using the standardized methods and to validate the reliability and validity for sarcopenia screening among elderly population.Methods:Following the recommended procedure by World Health Organization and European Union Geriatric Medicine Society Sarcopenia Special Interest Group, the translation process included forward translation, expert panel, back-translation, pre-testing and cognitive interviewing to generate the final version. In the pilot study, the test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and internal consistency of the Chinese version of SARC-F scale were assessed. In the diagnostic test for clinical validation, the participants were consecutively recruited from communities and hospitals in Beijing and Tianjin between December 2021 and October 2022. The scale administration, anthropometry, and body composition measurement were conducted by trained investigators. Participants with the SARC-F score ≥ 4 were considered at risk of sarcopenia. Diagnostic tests and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were performed against the definitions of sarcopenia according to European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) and Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS2019), and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and the area under curve were displayed.Results:The Chinese version of SARC-F scale was approved by the author that the translation has expressed the original meaning correctly. The Chinese version of SARC-F had good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.914), inter-rater reliability ( r = 0.726), and internal consistency ( α = 0.729). There were altogether 1 882 participants included in the clinical validation. According to the diagnostic criteria of EWGSOP2 and AWGS2019, the Chinese version of SARC-F scale had low sensitivity (13.6% and 16.0%) and positive predictive value (44.6% and 35.4%), high specificity (95.1% and 94.7%) and negative predictive value (79.0% and 86.2%), and moderate AUC of 0.619 and 0.616 (all P < 0.001) for sarcopenia screening. Conclusions:The Chinese version of SARC-F scale was of good reliability and validity. The application of SARC-F in the primary healthcare settings would contribute to the early diagnosis of sarcopenia.