TY - JOUR
T1 - Obstacles to the Early Diagnosis and Management of Sarcopenia
T2 - Current Perspectives
AU - Ooi, Hoyli
AU - Welch, Carly
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Ooi and Welch.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Research in sarcopenia has grown exponentially over the last 15 years in geriatrics and gerontology, as well as other specialties, including oncology and hepatology. There is now strong evidence for the role of resistance exercise to prevent declines in muscle strength and function, especially when combined with nutritional optimization with protein supplementation. However, there remains a disparity between research evidence and clinical practice. There are multiple factors for this, which relate to the current diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia, practical and logistical aspects of diagnosis of sarcopenia, clinician knowledge of both diagnosis and management, and the availability of pathways for interventions. Sarcopenia is currently defined based on the identification of muscle strength, in combination with muscle size or quality, below cut-off thresholds at a single timepoint. This defines sarcopenia as a binary process of either present or not present, thus early diagnosis can be challenging. In this article, we summarize current obstacles to early diagnosis and management of sarcopenia in clinical practice, and make recommendations to how these might be overcome. This includes our recommendation of incorporation of handgrip strength measurement into standard care, to enable dynamic assessment and identification of early declines in handgrip strength, so that interventions can be implemented to prevent disability.
AB - Research in sarcopenia has grown exponentially over the last 15 years in geriatrics and gerontology, as well as other specialties, including oncology and hepatology. There is now strong evidence for the role of resistance exercise to prevent declines in muscle strength and function, especially when combined with nutritional optimization with protein supplementation. However, there remains a disparity between research evidence and clinical practice. There are multiple factors for this, which relate to the current diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia, practical and logistical aspects of diagnosis of sarcopenia, clinician knowledge of both diagnosis and management, and the availability of pathways for interventions. Sarcopenia is currently defined based on the identification of muscle strength, in combination with muscle size or quality, below cut-off thresholds at a single timepoint. This defines sarcopenia as a binary process of either present or not present, thus early diagnosis can be challenging. In this article, we summarize current obstacles to early diagnosis and management of sarcopenia in clinical practice, and make recommendations to how these might be overcome. This includes our recommendation of incorporation of handgrip strength measurement into standard care, to enable dynamic assessment and identification of early declines in handgrip strength, so that interventions can be implemented to prevent disability.
KW - Humans
KW - Sarcopenia/diagnosis
KW - Hand Strength
KW - Muscle Strength/physiology
KW - Muscle, Skeletal/physiology
KW - Early Diagnosis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85185689556&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2147/CIA.S438144
DO - 10.2147/CIA.S438144
M3 - Review article
C2 - 38404480
SN - 1176-9092
VL - 19
SP - 323
EP - 332
JO - Clinical interventions in aging
JF - Clinical interventions in aging
ER -