Agreement between upper and lower limb measures to identify older adults with low skeletal muscle strength, muscle mass and muscle quality

• Published in: PLoS ONE 2022, Vol.17 (1), p.e0262732
• Main Authors: Phillipe de Lucena Alves, Charles, Câmara, Marcyo, Dantas Macêdo, Geovani Araújo, Freire, Yuri Alberto, de Melo Silva, Raíssa, Paulo-Pereira, Ronildo, Farias-Junior, Luiz Fernando, Fayh, Ana Paula Trussardi, Mortatti, Arnaldo Luis, Costa, Eduardo Caldas
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Arm; Diagnosis; Extremities, Lower; Health aspects; Leg; Muscle strength; Muscles; Physiological aspects; Sarcopenia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262732

Identifying low skeletal muscle strength (SMS), skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and skeletal muscle quality (SMQ) is pivotal for diagnosing sarcopenia cases. Age-related declines in SMS, SMM, and SMQ are dissimilar between the upper (UL) and lower limbs (LL). Despite this, both UL and LL measures have been used to assess SMS, SMM and SMQ in older adults. However, it is not clear whether there is agreement between UL and LL measures to identify older adults with low SMS, SMM and SMQ. To investigate the agreement between UL and LL measures to identify older adults with low SMS, SMM and SMQ. There was a slight and non-significant agreement between UL and LL measures to identify older adults with low SMS ([kappa] = 0.046; 95% CI 0.093-0.185; p = 0.352). There was a moderate agreement to identify low SMM ([kappa] = 0.473; 95% CI 0.371-0.574; p = 0.001) and a fair agreement to identify low SMQ ([kappa] = 0.206; 95% CI 0.082 to 0.330; p = 0.005). The agreement between UL and LL measures to identify older adults with low SMS, SMM and SMQ is limited, which might generate different clinical interpretations for diagnosing sarcopenia cases.