Calf Circumference and Ishii Score Chart in Predicting Sarcopenia in Multiple Ethnic Chinese Adults - Results from West China Health and Aging Trend Study

Abstract

Objective: The study aims at studying the accuracy of the calf circumference (CC) and Ishii score chart to predict sarcopenia among multiple ethnic grownups. Methods: The current study was a cross-sectional study. The study included adults aged 50 years and above. The patients were part of the West China Health and Aging Trend (WCHAT) study. Sarcopenia was diagnosed following the references to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019 guidelines. The Ishii score chart and CC set the incidence rate. The comparison between the two for predicting sarcopenia was made by comparing their sensitivity and specificity by measuring the positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV), as well as the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: 4177 people (50 years and older) were retrieved from the study. 2668 (63.9%) were females, and 1509 (36.1%) were males. The general occurrence of age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass was 22.6%, while the estimated incidence in men was 27% and 20.2% in women. Sarcopenia prediction by the CC and the Ishii test demonstrated the following ratios of their sensitivity and NPVs: 74.76%/0.9 and 75.49%/0.89, respectively, in men and 78.25%/ 0.94 and 65.24%/0.9, in women. In men, the measured values of AUCs of the CC and Ishii test were 0.852 (95% CI, 0.83-0.873) and 0.805 (95% CI, 0.781-0.829). In women, AUCs of the two tests were 0.882 (95% CI, 0.865-0.898) and 0.806 (95% CI, 0.787-0.825), respectively. Conclusion: Both CC and Ishii score charts were proven appropriate for predicting sarcopenia in multiple ethnic middle-aged community older adults. The comparison between the two sarcopenia diagnostic tools presented CC as more applicable.