Testing a muscle sensor method to help diagnose sarcopenia in older hospital patients

Sarcopenia is a progressive and generalised skeletal muscle disorder involving the accelerated loss of muscle mass and function that is associated with increased adverse outcomes including falls, functional decline, frailty, and mortality.

In this pilot project, the investigators want to explore the potential of the high-definition surface electromyography technology (HD-sEMG) for the diagnosis of sarcopenia.

This is a monocentric, descriptive, cross-sectional, parallel group study to develop a new diagnostic method.

It is planned to include 50 people aged 75 years and over hospitalized in the acute geriatric ward and suspected of sarcopenia (Score ≥4 on the SARC-F screening questionnaire).

The inclusion duration will be 36 months and adding a 1-month patient follow-up as part of routine care, the total study duration will be 37 months.

Patients will have their body composition (muscle mass, fat mass, and bone mass) using dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Muscular strength will be assessed by handgrip strength. Physical performance will be assessed. Additional data will be collected from their medical records.