Symptoms of Sarcopenia and Physical Fitness through the Senior Fitness Test

Alex Barreto de Lima (), Fátima Baptista, Duarte Henrinques-Neto, André de Araújo Pinto and Elvio Rúbio Gouveia
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Alex Barreto de Lima: CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1499-002 Cruz-Quebrada, Portugal
Fátima Baptista: CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1499-002 Cruz-Quebrada, Portugal
Duarte Henrinques-Neto: Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, Maia University, 4475-690 Maia, Portugal
André de Araújo Pinto: Department of Physical Education, Universidade Estadual de Roraima, UERR, Boa Vista 69306-530, RR, Brazil
Elvio Rúbio Gouveia: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Madeira, 9000-072 Funchal, Portugal

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-10

Abstract: Introduction: Physical fitness concerns a set of attributes related to the ability to perform physical activity that may justify the symptoms reported by the elderly in the context of sarcopenia. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the perception (symptomatology) of physical functioning (what the person thinks they are capable of) and the capacity itself for physical functioning in elderly people in northern Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional study that analyzed 312 elderly people (72.6 ± 7.8 years) from the city of Novo Aripuanã, Amazonas, Brazil. Sarcopenia symptomatology was assessed using the SARC-F, a 5-item questionnaire designed for screening sarcopenia in older individuals in five domains: strength, walking aids, difficulty getting up from a chair, difficulty climbing stairs, and falls. Physical fitness was assessed by the Senior Fitness Test (SFT) battery including balance evaluated with the short version of the Fullerton Advanced Balance scale (FAB). Results: ROC curve analysis revealed that the tests with the greatest ability to discriminate participants with significant symptoms for sarcopenia (≥4 points on SARC-F) were arm curl and 6 min walk: the probability of suspected sarcopenia increased exponentially with an arm curl < 11.5 reps for men (se = 71%; sp = 69%; AUC = 0.706, 95% CI: 0.612–0.788; p = 0.013) and women (se = 81%; sp = 51%; AUC = 0.671, 95% CI: 0.601–0.735; p ≤ 0.001) or with a 6-min walk <408.5 m for men (se = 71%; sp = 63%; AUC = 0.720, 95% CI: 0.628–0.690; p = 0.001) and <366.0 m for women (se = 69%; sp = 58%; AUC = 0.692, 95% CI: 0.623–0.755; p = 0.0001). Conclusions: Physical fitness assessed through the senior fitness test, particularly the 30-s-arm curl test and the 6-min walk test, can discriminate for suspected symptoms of sarcopenia.

Keywords: physical fitness; SARC-F; sarcopenia; senior fitness test (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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