Table 1 Assessment methods for sarcopenia and standardization indicators, advantages and disadvantages

Sift

ARC-F

/

A score of 4 or higher is

predictive of sarcopenia

and associated adverse

outcomes.

For community screening

of people at early risk for

sarcopenia

Some subjectivity;

less precision

Poll

Muscular

Strength

Grip strength

/

Male <27 kg；female <16 kg

(EWGSOP2)

Simple and easy to operate;

reliable indicators available

Less accurate;

susceptible to other

diseases

Male <28 kg；female<18 kg

(AWGS)

Male <26 kg；female <16 kg

(FNIH)

Repeat chair

stand test

5 chair stand tests

>15 s (EWGSOP2)

≥12 s (AWGS)

Muscle

mass

DEXA

ASMI = ASM/height²

Male < 7.0 kg/m²

Relatively low cost,

low radiation,

more accurate and stable differentiation of LM,

FM and other indicators

There is a degree of underestimation of

sarcopenia compared

to CT

Female < 5.5 kg/m²

(EWGSOP2)

Male <7.0 kg/m²;

Female <5.4 kg/m² (AWGS)

Male <7.23 kg/m²;

female <5.67 kg/m²

(IWCS)

ASM adjusted for

BMI (ASM_BMI)

Male <0.789

Female <0.512

BIA

ASMI

Male <7.0 kg/m²

female <5.7 kg/m² (AWGS)

Simple to operate;

affordable equipment;

widely

There is a degree of error

in the conversion equation;

the raw measurements do

not form a normalized

standard

Available and portable

CT

Cross-sectional area

CSA of mid-thigh muscles

Male <84 cm²

The gold standard for

non-invasive assessment

of qualitative and

quantitative changes in

body composition and

muscle quantity/mass

Radioactive;

high cost of access,

lack of portable equipment;

need for highly specialized personnel

Female <84 cm²

Cross-sectional area

of the psoas muscle

SMI male 52–55 cm²/m²

Female 39–41 cm²/m²

SMI male 52.4 cm²/m²

Female 38.5 cm²/m²

MRI

Evaluation site

similar to CT

/

Same as CT;

non-radioactive;

superior for assessment

of muscle mass abnormalities

such as muscle destruction,

abnormal edema, fatty tissue infiltration, etc.

High cost of access;

lack of portable equipment;

need for highly specialized personnel;

no standardized reference

data and thresholds yet

established

US

MV, MT, CSA, etc.

/

Low cost,

easy to perform,

repeatable measurements;

non-invasive

Standardized reference data

and thresholds not yet

established

Physical

function

Gait speed

/

Single cut-off speed

≤0.8 m/s

(EWGSOP2, FNIH)

Fast test;

no special equipment or

training required;

better suited as a routine

medical screening test

Less accurate;

susceptible to other diseases

6 m walking speed

<1.0 m/s (AWGS)

4-m walking speed

<1.0 m/s (IWGS)

SPPB

/

≤8 points (EWGSOP2)

≤9 points (AWGS)

TUG

/

≥20 s