Reliability and Validity of Gujarati Version of SARC-F Tool Used as Screening of Sarcopenia: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Sarcopenia is a disease which causes gradual loss of muscle mass, strength, and physical capability of one’s health mainly seen in older age. Early detection of sarcopenia and good treatment with proper diet should be necessary to prevent it. Strength, Assistance in Walking, Rise from chair, Climbing stairs, Falls (SARC-F) is the English questionnaire used for early screening of sarcopenia. SARC-F questionnaire contains five components. It was recognised as the most up-todate and coherent screening tool for screening the sarcopenia. Aim: To translate and validate the Gujarati version of SARC-F questionnaire. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Nootan College of Physiotherapy, Visnagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India between the 1st week of May to 1st week of June 2022 to translate the English origin SARC-F questionnaire in Gujarati language. For validation process, 190 individuals more than 60 years old, both male and female across Ahmedabad with normal cognition, able to walk independently were included in the study. Individuals were asked to complete the translated version of the SARC-F questionnaire over the gap of 48 hours for measuring the test-retest reliability. Face validity and content validity were assessed by the expert committee itself. Results: A total of 190 participants were included in the study in which 87 were males and 103 females. Out of total paricipants 51 (26.84%) were diagnosed with sarcopenia. The reliability was checked by Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) value which was 0.811 suggesting good reliability. Face validity was checked by the team of eight experts. Content validity was assessed with Content Validity Ratio (CVR) value more than 0.75 which suggested good content validity. The Content Validity Index for each item on the scale (I-CVI) value was in the range of 0.84 to 1 that also suggested good content validity at individual item level. Conclusion: The translation process and validation of SARC-F Gujarati questionnaire demonstrated good content validity. The translated Gujarati questionnaire was a simple and reliable tool for diagnosing sarcopenia in daily clinical practice in older individuals.