SARC-F has low correlation and reliability with skeletal muscle mass index in older gastrointestinal cancer patients

• Published in: Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 890 - 894
• Main Authors: Siqueira, Jéssika M., de Oliveira, Izabella C.L., Soares, Jéssika D.P., Pimentel, Gustavo D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2021
• Subjects: Cancer; SARC-F; Sarcopenia; Skeletal muscle mass; Sarcopenia; Skeletal muscle mass; SARC-F; Cancer
• ISSN: 0261-5614; 1532-1983
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2020.08.018

The evaluation of function and muscle mass in older cancer patients is essential to reduce comorbidities. We hypothesized that Simple Questionnaire to Rapidly Diagnose Sarcopenia (SARC-F) questionnaire is useful to assessment the muscle function, but not muscle mass. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation and reliability between the SARC-F and skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) in older gastrointestinal cancer patients.
A cross-sectional observational study enrolled 108 (63.55 ± 8.9 y) gastrointestinal cancer patients. The patients were evaluated using the SARC-F questionnaire and the muscle mass index (SMI). SMI was calculated using Lee's equation: the appendicular muscle mass (ASM) was divided by height. Pearson's correlation was used to examine the correlation between SARC-F and SMI. The Bland–Altman plot and Cohen's kappa coefficient were used to determine the concordance and reliability between them. Statistical difference was set at p < 0.05.
The Bland–Altman plot showed that the difference between methods were within agreement (±1.96; p = 0.001). However, SARC-F has low concordance (κ = 0.20; standard error = 0.14) and correlation (r = −0.303; p = 0.0014) with SMI.
In older cancer outpatients, we found that SARC-F has low correlation and reliability with SMI.