Internal medicine

Sarcopenia

Political science

Intensive care medicine

Physical therapy

MEDLINE

Consensus conference

Gerontology

Medicine

Physical medicine and rehabilitation

Journal of the American Medical Directors Association

Clinical and research interest in sarcopenia has burgeoned internationally, Asia included. The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2014 consensus defined sarcopenia as “age-related loss of muscle mass, plus low muscle strength, and/or low physical performance” and specified cutoffs for each diagnostic component; research in Asia consequently flourished, prompting this update. AWGS 2019 retains the previous definition of sarcopenia but revises the diagnostic algorithm, protocols, and some criteria: low muscle strength is defined as handgrip strength <28 kg for men and <18 kg for women; criteria for low physical performance are 6-m walk <1.0 m/s, Short Physical Performance Battery score ≤9, or 5-time chair stand test ≥12 seconds.

Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia: 2019 Consensus Update on Sarcopenia Diagnosis and Treatment