Effectiveness of adductor pollicis muscle thickness as risk marker for sarcopenia in Central-West Brazilian elderly communities.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine sensitivity, specificity, and best cutoff point for adductor pollicis muscle thickness (APMT) for diagnosis of sarcopenia in elderly community centers.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study comprising 321 elderly individuals from four community centers in Cuiabá, Central-West region of Brazil. The main outcome variables were calf circumference (CC; cm) and the APMT (mm). A receiver operating characteristic curve was built to assess the accuracy of APMT having CC as a golden pattern for sarcopenia. The best cutoff point was defined by Youden's J statistic.

Results: The area under curve of APMT was 0.70 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-0.76; P < 0.001) for all individuals, 0.74 (95% CI, 0.67-0.81; P < 0.001) for women, and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.58-0.85; P =.01) for men. The best cutoff point defined by Youden's J statistic was 17.63 mm for all individuals, the same for women. and 18.51 mm for men.

Conclusion: The APMT can be used for the diagnosis of sarcopenia. The optimal cutoff points for APMT are 17.63 mm for women and 18.51 mm for men in elderly communities in the Central-West Region of Brazil.