However, there is currently a lack of research on the application of physical therapy assessment methods to the two diseases. Therefore, this study aims to present thresholds for physical therapy assessment tools that can distinguish between normal, locomotive syndrome, and sarcopenia in Korean elderly people aged 65 years or older, and to provide basic data on physical therapy assessment methods.
We evaluated sarcopenia and locomotive syndrome in 210 Korean elderly people aged 65 years or older, and divided them into normal group, motor function group, and sarcopenia group. In addition, we evaluated Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), Timed Up and Go Test (TUG test), and Berg Balance Scale (BBS), which are physical function assessment tools commonly used by physical therapists. Finally, we calculated the threshold between the three groups using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.
The subjects of this study were 210 people, including 37.14% males and 62.86% females, with an average age of 72.8 years. The groups were divided according to the evaluation criteria proposed by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 and the Japanese Orthopaedic Association 2020. The normal group consisted of 10 people, the locomotive syndrome group consisted of 164 people, and the sarcopenia group consisted of 36 people.
The threshold values between the normal group and the locomotive syndrome group were derived as follows: SPPB 10 points, TUG test 9.47 seconds, BBS 54 points. The threshold values between the locomotve syndrome group and the sarcopenia group were derived as follows: SPPB 9 points, TUG test 10.27 seconds, BBS 50 points. All of these results were statistically significant (p0.05).
All subjects in the sarcopenia group had locomotive syndrome, which can support the claim that normal, locomotive syndrome, and sarcopenia will occur in that order when functional decline occurs in the elderly due to aging. It also suggests that locomotive syndrome evaluation can be used as a tool for early diagnosis and prevention of sarcopenia.
The assessment tools used in this study, SPPB, TUG test, and BBS, showed significant thresholds in each group. This suggests that the physical therapy assessment tool has significant meaning in the assessment of elderly people with sarcopenia and locomotive syndrome and is a highly usable tool.
Physical therapy has expanded from the concept of classical pain relief to areas such as improving physical function, and physical therapists have specialized knowledge and special treatment techniques for restoring physical function. The threshold presented through this study will contribute to establishing a physical therapy approach for managing sarcopenia and locotmotive syndrome in the elderly. In addition, it can be used as a research result supporting the necessity of active intervention by physical therapists in the evaluation and management of sarcopenia and locomotive syndrome.
locomotive syndrome
threshold
