Table 2.

Diagnostic criteria for rheumatoid cachexia used in the literature.

Diagnosis		BW loss †	FFMI (kg/m2)	FMI (kg/m2)	BF (% of BW)	Low muscle strength	Fatigue	Anorexia	Abnormal biochemistry
								Engvall et al.18		<10th PC *	>25th PC*
Rheumatoid cachexia	Elkan et al.44		<25th PC *	>50th PC*
	Müller40		ALM/height2 <20th PC *		>25% for men, >35% for women
Cachexia	Evans et al.48	≥5% in the previous 12 months, or less in the presence of illness, or BMI <20 kg/m2, plus3/5 of the other criteria (on the right columns)	<10th PC*, or ASMI (by DXA) <7.25 in men and <5.45 in women			+ (assessed via handgrip strength)	+	Limited food intake (i.e. EI<20 kcal/kg of BW/day, or <70% of usual food intake), or poor appetite	○ Elevated inflammatory markers (CRP>5.0 mg/L, or IL-6 >4.0 pg/mL) ○ Anaemia (Hb <12 g/dL) ○ Serum albumin <3.2 g/dL

ALM: appendicular lean mass (the sum of the lean tissue in the arms and legs: calculated by DXA); ASMI: appendicle skeletal muscle index; BMI: body mass index; BF: body fat; BW: body weight; CRP: c-reactive protein; DXA: dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry; EI: energy intake; Hb: haemoglobin; FMI: fat mass index; FFMI: fat-free mass index; IL-6: interleukin 6; PC: percentile;

^*of the sex-, age-, and ethnic-specific values;

^†:oedema free. Background colours denote the component criteria used in each definition.