E0385 - Gender-Based Differences in Sarcopenia Screening With the SARC-F Questionnaire in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Ayushi Jain, MD¹, Kavita Ramnath, BS², Laurie Rosales, APRN-CNP¹, Beth Kulow, APRN-CNP¹, Jacob Skeans, MD¹, Madalina Butnariu, MD¹, Anita Afzali, MD, MPH, FACG¹, Adeeti Chiplunker, MD, MMS^1
1The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH; ²The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH

Introduction: Sarcopenia is a modifiable condition that affects 27 to 61% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), however, traditional measurements of sarcopenia can be cumbersome and are not rapidly available. The aim of this study was to use a five-item questionnaire, SARC-F, to assess sarcopenia in patients with IBD.

Methods: Patients (≥18 years) seen at the IBD Center with a confirmed diagnosis of IBD without short bowel syndrome were invited to complete a SARC-F questionnaire. Retrospective chart review was performed for demographic and disease characteristics for all patients that completed the questionnaire. For patients with available CT or MRI abdominal imaging within 3 months of completion of the questionnaire, the SMI was measured using a single slice through the third lumbar vertebra. Sarcopenia on SARC-F was defined as a score ≥4 and on SMI as < 55cm²/m² for males and < 39cm²/m² for females¹.

Results: Among 233 patients that completed the SARC-F questionnaire, 44 patients met criteria for sarcopenia with a score ≥4 on SARC-F (Table 1). Tobacco use (25% vs 3.7%, p=< 0.0001), history of bowel surgery (59.1% vs 32.8%, p= 0.0017) and BMI (32.6 vs 27.7, p=< 0.0001) were all associated with sarcopenia on SARC-F. Of the 233 patients included, 58 had recent abdominal imaging available for measurement of SMI. Among this cohort, sarcopenia was identified in 15 patients by SMI and in 16 patients by SARC-F with 2 patients identified to have sarcopenia on both. Men were more likely to have sarcopenia on SMI than females (50% vs 11%, p=0.0017). Conversely, more females were identified to have sarcopenia on SARC-F than males (31.2% vs 11%, p=0.1448). This remained true amongst all patients that completed the questionnaire with more females than males positive for sarcopenia on SARC-F (23.2% vs 10.3%, p=0.017).

Discussion: More females screened positive for sarcopenia on the SARC-F questionnaire while more males screened positive for sarcopenia on SMI, the gold standard. This may indicate a gender bias that could limit accuracy of patient-driven answers to questions regarding physical strength and function. Further research to identify factors that affect sarcopenia screening is warranted.

Reference:
1. Fearon K, Strasser F, Anker SD, et al. Definition and classification of cancer cachexia: an international consensus. Lancet Oncol. 2011;12(5):489-495.



Disclosures:


Ayushi Jain, MD¹, Kavita Ramnath, BS², Laurie Rosales, APRN-CNP¹, Beth Kulow, APRN-CNP¹, Jacob Skeans, MD¹, Madalina Butnariu, MD¹, Anita Afzali, MD, MPH, FACG¹, Adeeti Chiplunker, MD, MMS¹. E0385 - Gender-Based Differences in Sarcopenia Screening With the SARC-F Questionnaire in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, ACG 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Charlotte, NC: American College of Gastroenterology.