. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Feb 1.

Published in final edited form as: Calcif Tissue Int. 2013 Jul 5;93(2):101–120. doi: 10.1007/s00223-013-9758-y

Table 1. Frequently used cut-off values for a selection of diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia.

	Men	Women
Skeletal muscle mass
SMI by DXA [25]	< 7.26 kg/m²	< 5.45 kg/m²
Muscle strength
Handgrip strength [30]	< 30 kg	< 20 kg
Muscle performance
Gait speed on 4m course [31]	< 1.0 m/s
SPPB [32]	≤ 8

DXA: Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; SMI: Skeletal Muscle Mass index where appendicular skeletal muscle mass is standardised using the square of the individuals’ height; m: meter; s: second; kg: kilogram; SPPB: Short Physical Performance Battery, summation of scores for balance, gait speed and chair stand (max score = 12)