Almouaalamy Nabil, Adem Sittelbenat H, Alsubhi Abdulrahman A, Alansari Ahmed B, Yahya Marwan A, Alsadan Sultan A
Oncology Department, Princess Noorah Oncology Center.
King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2023 May 8;85(6):2592-2597. doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000000794. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Sarcopenia is a comorbidity associated with cancer, which takes advantage of a patient's deteriorating state and decreases the survival rate. Thus, early detection of sarcopenia could improve oncology outpatient prognosis, treatment, and general quality of life.
To measure the prevalence of probable sarcopenia and the associated risk factors in patients with cancer.
This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 324 cancer patients were screened for sarcopenia using a simple questionnaire to rapidly diagnose sarcopenia [SARC-F (strength, assistance with walking, rising from a chair, climbing stairs, and falls)] and a hand grip dynamometer tool. The study was conducted from 1 January 2021 till 28 February 2021, in the outpatient department of Princess Noorah Oncology Center.
Among 324 cancer patients receiving active chemotherapy treatment, 28.4% screened positive for sarcopenia (SARC-F score ≥4). Moreover, 23.45% were identified as probable cases [SARC-F score ≥4 and a low hand grip strength (HGS)] of sarcopenia, according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People consensus 2 (EWGSOP2) case-finding algorithm, which is sufficient to initiate a management plan.
One-quarter of the cancer patients had probable sarcopenia at our institution. Sarcopenia risk was independently associated with patient age, and the risk of sarcopenia was low among patients with higher albumin concentrations. Screening cancer patients for sarcopenia using the SARC-F questionnaire and HGS may offer a useful strategy to mitigate the risk of unfavorable consequences that may occur during cancer treatment.
肌肉减少症是一种与癌症相关的合并症，它利用患者日益恶化的身体状况并降低生存率。因此，早期发现肌肉减少症可改善肿瘤门诊患者的预后、治疗及总体生活质量。
测量癌症患者中可能存在的肌肉减少症的患病率及其相关危险因素。
这是一项横断面研究。使用一份简单问卷[SARC-F（力量、行走辅助、从椅子上起身、爬楼梯和跌倒）]和握力计工具，对总共324名癌症患者进行肌肉减少症筛查。该研究于2021年1月1日至2021年2月28日在努拉公主肿瘤中心门诊部进行。
在324名接受积极化疗的癌症患者中，28.4%的患者肌肉减少症筛查呈阳性（SARC-F评分≥4）。此外，根据老年人肌肉减少症欧洲工作组共识2（EWGSOP2）病例发现算法，23.45%的患者被确定为可能患有肌肉减少症[SARC-F评分≥4且握力低（HGS）]，这足以启动管理计划。
在我们机构中，四分之一的癌症患者可能患有肌肉减少症。肌肉减少症风险与患者年龄独立相关，白蛋白浓度较高的患者肌肉减少症风险较低。使用SARC-F问卷和HGS对癌症患者进行肌肉减少症筛查，可能为降低癌症治疗期间可能出现的不良后果风险提供一种有用的策略。
