Accuracy of the life-space mobility measure for discriminating frailty and sarcopenia in older people

Abstract

Objective

To identify the profile of a sample of older people recruited at home based on a measure of life-space mobility and to establish the accuracy of the cut-off points of this instrument for discriminating between levels of frailty, frailty in walking speed and risk of sarcopenia.

Method

An observational methodological study of 391 participants aged ≥72 (80.4±4.6) years, who answered the Life-Space Assessment (LSA) and underwent frailty and risk of sarcopenia screening using the frailty phenotype and SARC-F measures, respectively, was performed. The cut-off points for frailty and risk of sarcopenia were determined using ROC (​​Receiver Operating Characteristic) curves and their respective 95% confidence intervals.

Results

Mean total LSA score was 53.6±21.8. The cut-off points with the best diagnostic accuracy for total LSA were ≤54 points for frailty in walking speed (AUC=0.645 95%; p<0.001) and ≤60 points for risk of sarcopenia (AUC=0.651 95%; p<0.001).

Conclusion

The ability of older people to move around life-space levels, as assessed by the LSA, proved a promising tool to screen for frailty in walking speed and risk of sarcopenia, thus contributing to the prevention of adverse outcomes.

Keywords
Aging; Older people; Frailty; Sarcopenia; Mobility Limitation