New versus old guidelines for sarcopenia classification: What is the impact on prevalence and health outcomes?

Abstract

Introduction recently, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) established a new operational definition and cut-off points for sarcopenia. The aim of this study was, therefore, to compare the prevalence of sarcopenia and its associations with different health outcomes using the old (EWGSOP1) and new (EWGSOP2) definitions of sarcopenia in the UK Biobank cohort. Methods sarcopenia was defined as low grip strength plus low muscle mass. Using both EWGSOP cut-off points, we created specific sarcopenia variables. Prevalence of sarcopenia derived using both EWGSOP definitions was calculated and compared as well as prospective health outcomes including all-cause mortality as well as incidence and mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Results the prevalence of sarcopenia based on the EWGSOP1 and EWGSOP2 classifications were 8.14 and 0.36%, respectively. Sarcopenia defined by EWGSOP1 was associated with a higher risk of respiratory disease and COPD as well as mortality from all-cause, CVD and respiratory diseases. However, only respiratory incidence remained associated with sarcopenia when EWGSOP2 was used (HR: 1.32 [95% CI: 1.05–1.66]). Moreover, although individuals classified as sarcopenic using both classifications had the highest risk of all-cause mortality and respiratory disease, those with sarcopenia based on EWGSOP1 only experienced a more extensive range of poorer health outcomes. Conclusion in comparison with EWGSOP1, the new classification (EWGSOP2) produced a lower estimate of sarcopenia prevalence and fewer associations with adverse health outcomes. Although these associations were higher, many become non-significant.

Adiposity Without Obesity: Associations with Osteoporosis, Sarcopenia, and Falls in the Healthy Ageing Initiative Cohort Study

“…Indeed, the proportion of participants with sarcopenia (< 2%) was low, which may be related to the high levels of physical activity that we previously reported in this study (42). However, other studies in similar populations have reported sarcopenia prevalence according to the revised definition of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People of 0.4% to 7.4% (43,44), and our estimate falls within this range. The number of participants with incident falls over 12 months (< 12%) was also low, and this may be due to the good physical function generally observed as well as the fact that only falls resulting in coming to rest at ground level were recorded (45).…”

Sarcopenia and Liver Cirrhosis—Comparison of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia Criteria 2010 and 2019

“…The predictive utility for complications seems to be different for the 2010 and 2019 definition-in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease both definitions performed well, whereas in the UK biobank cohort the 2010 definition was superior in predicting poorer health outcome. [25,32] The EWGSOP 2019 criteria also identify less cases compared to other internationally used diagnostic criteria in elderly and in cirrhotic patients. [33,34]…”

Sarcopenic obesity in ageing: cardiovascular outcomes and mortality

“…In 2019, the EWGSOP published an updated sarcopenia definition and cut-points (the EWGSOP-2) which focused on low muscle strength as a key sarcopenia characteristic, used detection of low muscle quantity and quality to confirm the diagnosis and used poor physical performance to indicate severe sarcopenia (52) . Comparison of the old and new EWGSOP definitions of sarcopenia in the UK Biobank cohort study suggests that the new EWGSOP-2 definition recognises fewer people as sarcopenic (0•36 %) compared with the old definition (8•14 %) (53) .…”