The Conceptual Definition of Sarcopenia: Delphi Consensus from the Global Leadership Initiative in Sarcopenia (GLIS). Journal Articles uri icon

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abstract

  • IMPORTANCE: Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength/function, is an important clinical condition. However, no international consensus on the definition exists. OBJECTIVE: The Global Leadership Initiative in Sarcopenia (GLIS) aimed to address this by establishing the global conceptual definition of sarcopenia. DESIGN: The GLIS steering committee was formed in 2019-21 with representatives from all relevant scientific societies worldwide. During this time, the steering committee developed a set of statements on the topic and invited members from these societies to participate in a two-phase International Delphi Study. Between 2022 and 2023, participants ranked their agreement with a set of statements using an online survey tool (SurveyMonkey). Statements were categorised based on predefined thresholds: strong agreement (>80%), moderate agreement (70-80%) and low agreement (<70%). Statements with strong agreement were accepted, statements with low agreement were rejected and those with moderate agreement were reintroduced until consensus was reached. RESULTS: 107 participants (mean age: 54 ± 12 years [1 missing age], 64% men) from 29 countries across 7 continents/regions completed the Delphi survey. Twenty statements were found to have a strong agreement. These included; 6 statements on 'general aspects of sarcopenia' (strongest agreement: the prevalence of sarcopenia increases with age (98.3%)), 3 statements on 'components of sarcopenia' (muscle mass (89.4%), muscle strength (93.1%) and muscle-specific strength (80.8%) should all be a part of the conceptual definition of sarcopenia)) and 11 statements on 'outcomes of sarcopenia' (strongest agreement: sarcopenia increases the risk of impaired physical performance (97.9%)). A key finding of the Delphi survey was that muscle mass, muscle strength and muscle-specific strength were all accepted as 'components of sarcopenia', whereas impaired physical performance was accepted as an 'outcome' rather than a 'component' of sarcopenia. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: The GLIS has created the first global conceptual definition of sarcopenia, which will now serve to develop an operational definition for clinical and research settings.

authors

  • Phillips, Stuart
  • Kirk, Ben
  • Cawthon, Peggy M
  • Arai, Hidenori
  • Ávila-Funes, José A
  • Barazzoni, Rocco
  • Bhasin, Shalender
  • Binder, Ellen F
  • Bruyere, Olivier
  • Cederholm, Tommy
  • Chen, Liang-Kung
  • Cooper, Cyrus
  • Duque, Gustavo
  • Fielding, Roger A
  • Guralnik, Jack
  • Kiel, Douglas P
  • Landi, Francesco
  • Reginster, Jean-Yves
  • Sayer, Avan A
  • Visser, Marjolein
  • von Haehling, Stephan
  • Woo, Jean
  • Cruz-Jentoft, Alfonso J
  • Global Leadership Initiative in Sarcopenia (GLIS) group

publication date

  • March 1, 2024