Skip to main content
. 2022 Jun 27;13(1):162–177. doi: 10.1016/j.jceh.2022.06.005

Table 1.

Diagnostic Criteria for Sarcopenia by Organization.

Organization Diagnostic criteria
EWGSOP, version 2 Low muscle strength (grip strength <27 kg in males and <16 in females)
Low skeletal muscle mass (in terms of appendicular skeletal mass per height; <7.0 kg/m2 in males or <5.5 kg/m2 in females) (2 standard deviations below the reference range of 8.8 kg/m2 for males and 6.84 kg/m2 for females)
For the diagnosis of severe sarcopenia, low muscle performance (gait speed of ≤0.8 m/s or SPPB of ≤8)
ESPEN-SIG Low skeletal muscle mass (in terms of appendicular skeletal mass per height; <7.26/m2 in males and <5.5 kg/m2 in females (2 standard deviations below reference range of 8.6 kg/m2 for males and 7.3 kg/m2 for females) and one of the following:
Low skeletal muscle strength (grip strength <30 kg in males and <20 kg in females)
Low muscle performance (gait speed <0.8–1.0 m/s)
IWGS Low skeletal muscle mass (in terms of appendicular skeletal muscle mass per height; 7.23 kg/m2 in males and 5.67 kg/m2 in females) (lowest 20% of distribution for each sex)
Low muscle performance (gait speed <1 m/s)
FNIH Low muscle strength (grip strength <26 kg in males and <16 kg in females)
Low muscle mass (in terms of appendicular lean mass per BMI; <0.789 in males and <0.512 kg in females) (established by regression analysis)
AWGS Low skeletal muscle mass (in terms of appendicular skeletal mass per height; <7.0 kg/m2 in males or 5.4 kg/m2 in females by DEXA or 5.7 kg/m2 by BIA) and one of the following:
Low muscle strength (grip strength <28 kg for males and <18 for females) or
Low muscle performance (gait speed <1 m/s or SPPB ≤9)
International Conference on Frailty and Sarcopenia Research Per EWGSOP, FNIH, IWGS, or AWGS diagnostic criteria

Abbreviations: EWGSOP, European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People; ESPEN-SIG, European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism Special Interest Groups; IWGS, International Working Group on Sarcopenia; FNIH, Foundations for the National Institutes of Health; AWGS, Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia, SPPB, Short Performance Physical Battery; BIA, bioelectrical impedance analysis; DEXA, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; BMI, body mass index.