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SARC‐F for screening of sarcopenia among older adults with cancer
Author(s) -
Williams Grant R.,
AlObaidi Mustafa,
Dai Chen,
Bhatia Smita,
Giri Smith
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.33395
Subject(s) - sarcopenia , medicine , interquartile range , hazard ratio , gerontology , quality of life (healthcare) , proportional hazards model , odds ratio , cancer , physical therapy , confidence interval , nursing
Background Sarcopenia is associated with adverse outcomes among older adults with cancer; however, no easily applied sarcopenia measure exists for use in clinical practice. The use of SARC‐F, a 5‐item self‐reported sarcopenia screening questionnaire, among older adults with cancer remains to be investigated. Methods Older adults (aged ≥60 years) with cancer enrolled in the University of Alabama Cancer and Aging Resilience Evaluation Registry were identified. Patients completed the SARC‐F questionnaire (with scores ≥4 considered positive for sarcopenia). The authors assessed for differences in geriatric assessment domain impairments, health‐related quality of life, and health care utilization between those with and without sarcopenia using multivariate regression, then assessed the association of sarcopenia with survival using Kaplan‐Meier methods and a Cox regression model, adjusting for covariates. Results In total, 256 older adults were identified. The median age was 69 years, 59% of participants were men, and 75% were White. The median SARC‐F score was 2 (interquartile range, 0‐4), and 33% of participants screened positive. Those with sarcopenia had higher odds of having multiple impairments, including impaired instrumental activities of daily living (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 18.1; 95% CI, 7.5‐43.8) and frailty (aOR, 43.5; 95% CI, 17.7‐106.8) as well as reduced physical and mental health‐related quality of life (β coefficient, −13.6 and −11.5, respectively) and increased emergency room visits (aOR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.3‐4.7). Furthermore, sarcopenia was independently associated with inferior overall survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.98; 95% CI, 1.1‐8.3; P = .04). Conclusions One‐third of older adults with cancer in this cohort screened positive for sarcopenia using the SARC‐F screening questionnaire, and these positive scores are associated with geriatric assessment domain impairments, reduced health‐related quality of life, increased emergency room visits, and inferior overall survival.