Tag Archives: Sarcopenia

Should we screen for sarcopenia in Romanian patients with osteoporosis? An overview of the current knowledge on osteosarcopenia

Gabriela Mihai, Ionela Maria Pascanu

Department of Endocrinology, University of Medicine,Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2023-0014

The combination of osteoporosis and sarcopenia is wider known as “osteosarcopenia”, and it is considered to be a “hazardous duet” for the patient. The clinical consequences of this geriatric syndrome include a higher risk of fractures and mortality compared to osteoporosis or sarcopenia alone. Fractures are considered to be a burden for the patient but also for the health care system from an economic point of view, therefore it is important to prevent them. Emerging evidence shows that osteosarcopenia is an increasingly prevalent disease. The Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) is of major importance for the management of a patient, however, muscle weakness is not part of this instrument. It has been suggested to go “beyond the FRAX” and to evaluate muscle mass/strength besides bone mineral density when it comes to the management of a patient with a sustained fragility fracture. In this review we try to answer whether this is feasible or not when it comes to Romanian patients.

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Ultrasonography: New Insights in its Applicability to Explore Muscle Mass and Musculoskeletal Inflammation in Critically Ill Patients

Oana-Elena Branea1,2, Anamaria Romina Jugariu1, Razvan-Gabriel Budeanu1, Sanda Maria Copotoiu1,2, Monica Copotoiu1, 2

1. University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology of Târgu Mureş, Romania
2. Târgu Mureș Clinical Emergency County Hospital, Târgu Mureş, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2018-0024

Objective: The main aim of the study was to explore muscle mass changes and to investigate musculoskeletal inflammation in critically ill patients.
Methods: A pure observational study that comprised two musculoskeletal analyses was conducted. Ultrasonography was used to determine the inflammatory process and muscle mass modifications. We assessed the presence of musculoskeletal inflammation and muscles area reduction. We recruited 26 patients and we performed both imaging investigations (shoulder and hip joints, biceps brachii and rectus femoris areas) and anthropometric measurements (mid-upper arm circumference).
Results: More than 70% of patients were classified with low muscle mass, over one half of sarcopenic patients being over-weight and 17% being obese. The relationship between the length of stay in intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation and presence of low mid-upper arm circumference, highlighted a significant difference when comparing sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic groups. Musculoskeletal inflammation expressed by step-down lesions, calcifications and osteophytes, is common in these patients. Statistically significant results were obtained when comparing the dimensions of the investigated muscles. Good inter-observer variability in day 3 of assessment for biceps brachii and rectus femoris was noticed.
Conclusions: More than 1/3 of critically ill patients included in the present study was classified with low muscle mass. The length of stay in intensive care unit and the length of mechanical ventilation had an important impact on sarcopenic patients. Musculoskeletal impairment was frequent, reflected by presence of enthesitis lesions in joints and by dynamic reduction of muscle area.

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Romanian Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the SarQol Questionnaire

Andrea Ildiko Gasparik1, Gabriela Mihai2*, Ionela Maria Pașcanu²,³

1 Public Health and Health Management Department of University of Medicine and Pharmacy Tîrgu Mures, Romania
2 Mures County Hospital, Tîrgu Mures, Romania
3 Endocrinology Department of University of Medicine and Pharmacy Tîrgu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.1515/amma-2016-0036

Sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss is emerging as a major public health concern. A reduced quality of life (QoL) due to impaired physical performance associated with this disease has been evidenced in these individuals.Generic instruments, such as Short Form 36 questionnaire (SF-36), do not accurately assess the impact of sarcopenia on QoL. SarQol (Sarcopenia Quality of Life) questionnaire, was the first disease-specific questionnaire addressing quality of life in patients with sarcopenia and has been recently designed for providing a global picture on quality of life in community-dwelling elderly subjects aged 65 years and older. Our aim was the translation and cultural adaptation of the original SarQol, to finally obtain a highly reliable instrument for the assessment of the quality of life of Romanian patients, affected by sarcopenia.
We followed the recommended process, the international protocol of translation. The pretest process involved 20 subjects (10 sarcopenic and 10 non sarcopenic with different educational and socioeconomic backgrounds) who were asked to complete the questionnaire. Feedbacks were requested from all subjects regarding the clearness of questions, difficulties in completing the test or understanding the meaning of questions. Using the recommended best practice protocol for translation, the pre-final version is comparable with the original instrument in terms of content and accuracy. After the validation of psychometric properties, it should be a useful tool to assess Quality of Life and sarcopenia among elderly Romanian patients.

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