Screening sarcopenia through SARC-F in postmenopausal women: a single-center study from South America

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of postmenopausal women at high risk of sarcopenia and to compare their quality of life (QOL) with those at low risk using the SARC-F questionnaire.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of postmenopausal women who attended a menopause clinic in Colombia. The risk of sarcopenia was determined through the SARC-F questionnaire; a score ≥4 was considered high risk. The Menopause Rating Scale, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) tool were applied.

Results: A total of 112 postmenopausal women with an average age of 68.4 ± 8.5 years were included. The prevalence of women at high risk of sarcopenia was 15.2% (n = 17) (95% confidence interval: 9.7; 23.0). Among the high-risk group there was a higher proportion of women with severe symptoms in the three domains when compared to the low-risk group (somatic 7% vs. 24%, psychological 15% vs. 44%, and urogenital 28% vs. 53%; p < 0.05). A tendency to a lower physical performance was found in the high-risk group (SPPB: 8 [interquartile range: 6–11] vs. SPPB: 10 [interquartile range: 8–11), p = 0.059).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that women with high risk of sarcopenia have a poor QOL. The SARC-F questionnaire is a brief and non-invasive screening tool to detect postmenopausal women at high risk of sarcopenia.

摘要

目的：本研究旨在评估绝经后妇女肌肉减少症高风险的患病率, 并使用SARC-F调查问卷比较其与低风险妇女的生活质量（QOL）。方法：我们对哥伦比亚的更年期门诊就诊的绝经后妇女进行了横断面研究。通过SARC-F问卷评估肌肉减少症的风险；得分≥4被认为是高风险。应用更年期评定量表, 国际体力活动问卷和简易机体功能评估法（SPPB）。结果：本研究纳入112名绝经后女性, 平均年龄为68.4 ± 8.5岁。妇女肌肉减少症高风险的患病率为15.2％（n = 17）（95％的置信区间：9.7; 23.0）。与低风险人群相比, 高风险人群以下三个方面有严重症状的比例更高（躯体7％比24％, 心理15％比44％, 泌尿生殖道28％比53％； p ＜0.05）。高风险组中体能呈现降低的趋势（SPPB：8 [四分位间距：6-11] vs SPPB：10 [四分位间距：8-11）, p = 0.059）。结论：我们的结果表明, 患有肌肉减少症的女性的QOL评分较差。 SARC-F调查表是一种用于筛查绝经后妇女肌肉减少症风险的简便、非侵入性的工具。

Keywords:

• SARC-F
• sarcopenia
• screening
• quality of life
• menopause

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Research Institute of Centro Médico Imbanaco for their support during the development of this project.

Potential conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Source of funding

Nil.