Clinical practice for sarcopenia in Asia: Online survey by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia

Minoru Yamada; Wei-Ju Lee; Masahiro Akishita; Ming Yang; Lin Kang; Sunyoung Kim; Jun-Pei Lim; Wee-Shiong Lim; Reshma A Merchant; Terence Ong; Li-Ning Peng; Harisd Phannarus; Maw-Pin Tan; Laura Tay; Chang-Won Won; Jean Woo; Liang-Kung Chen; Hidenori Arai

doi:10.1016/j.archger.2023.105132

Clinical practice for sarcopenia in Asia: Online survey by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia

Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2023 Dec:115:105132. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2023.105132. Epub 2023 Jul 17.

Authors

Minoru Yamada¹, Wei-Ju Lee², Masahiro Akishita³, Ming Yang⁴, Lin Kang⁵, Sunyoung Kim⁶, Jun-Pei Lim⁷, Wee-Shiong Lim⁸, Reshma A Merchant⁹, Terence Ong¹⁰, Li-Ning Peng¹¹, Harisd Phannarus¹², Maw-Pin Tan¹⁰, Laura Tay¹³, Chang-Won Won⁶, Jean Woo¹⁴, Liang-Kung Chen¹⁵, Hidenori Arai¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
² Aging and Health Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, No 155, Sec 2 Li-Nong Street, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
³ Department of Geriatric Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Center of Gerontology and Geriatrics, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
⁵ Department of Geriatric Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, 1#ShuaiFuYuan, DongCheng District, Beijing, 100730, China.
⁶ Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Hoegi 1 dong, Dongdaemungu, Seoul 02447, South Korea.
⁷ Department of Geriatric Medicine, Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Annex 2 Level 3, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, 308433, Singapore.
⁸ Department of Geriatric Medicine, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Annex 2 Level 3, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, 308433, Singapore.
⁹ Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore.
¹⁰ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
¹¹ Aging and Health Research Center, National YaE12:F13ng Ming Chiao Tung University, No. 155, Sec. 2, Linong St. Beitoou Dist., Taipei City, 112304, Taiwan.
¹² Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
¹³ Department of General Medicine, Sengkang General Hospital, 110 Sengkang East Way, 544886, Singapore, Singapore.
¹⁴ Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Ngan Shing Street, Shatin NT, Hong Kong SAR, China.
¹⁵ Center for Healthy Longevity and Aging Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei Municipal Gan-Dau Hospital, No. 201, Sec 2, Shih-Pai Road, Taipei, 11217, Taiwan.
¹⁶ National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 7-430 Morioka, Obu, Aichi, 474-8511, Japan. Electronic address: harai@ncgg.go.jp.

PMID: 37490804
DOI: 10.1016/j.archger.2023.105132

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to (1) investigate the clinical practice for the management of sarcopenia among healthcare professionals in Asia, (2) determine the characteristics of clinical care provided by geriatricians versus by other healthcare professionals, and (3) clarify the awareness of sarcopenia.

Methods: From December 1 to 31, 2022, an online survey was completed by 1990 healthcare professionals in Asia. The survey comprises demographics and institutional characteristics, basic sarcopenia-related details, and sarcopenia-related assessment and treatment details.

Results: The mean respondent age was 44.2 ± 10.7 years, 36.4% of the respondents were women, and the mean years of experience in clinical practice were 19.0 ± 10.6 years. The percentages of respondents who were aware of the term "sarcopenia", its definition and the importance of its management were high, at 99.3%, 91.9%, and 97.2%, respectively. The percentages of respondents who had screened patients for, diagnosed patients with, and treated patients for sarcopenia were 42.4%, 42.9%, and 58.8%, respectively. Medical doctors had higher performance rates compared to allied health professionals (45.5% vs. 40.5% for screening, 56.8% vs. 34.5% for diagnosis, and 65.0% vs. 55.0% for treatment) (P < 0.001). Especially, among medical doctors, geriatricians had significantly higher rates compared to non-geriatricians (64.3% vs. 34.1% for screening; 76.7% vs. 44.8% for diagnosis; 82.7% vs. 54.4% for treatment, respectively) (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Although the importance of the concept and management of sarcopenia is well recognized, there is a gap in its detection and management in clinical practice between medical doctors and allied health professionals, and also between geriatricians and non-geriatricians. Many geriatricians collaborate with other healthcare professionals to appropriately manage sarcopenia. In the future, educating all medical staff on the proper management of sarcopenia is necessary.

Keywords: Clinical practice; Geriatrician; Healthcare professionals; Sarcopenia; The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia.

MeSH terms

Adult
Asia / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Practice Patterns, Physicians'*
Sarcopenia* / diagnosis
Sarcopenia* / therapy
Surveys and Questionnaires