Investigating the utility of sarcopenia associated SARC-F and MSRA questionnaires in identifying falls and self-reported functional impairment in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

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INTRODUCTION: Chronic inflammation associated with ageing contributes to sarcopenia-related risk of falls and multimorbidity. The SARC-F questionnaire, based on strength, ambulation, rising from a chair, climbing stairs and falling, and MSRA (mini sarcopenia risk assessment) are validated tools to identify sarcopenia in elderly people. Here, we investigated whether SARC-F and MSRA questionnaires capture higher rates of self-reported functional difficulties and falls in young individuals living with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). METHODS: JIA patients and healthy participants were invited to complete an online survey including the SARC-F, MSRA-5, and MSRA-7 questionnaires. Additional questions explored their nutrition and exercise habits. RESULTS: We invited 101 healthy participants and 41 patients with JIA. Of the 41 JIA respondents, the median age was 23 years and 25 (61%) were female. According to the SARC-F, MSRA-5, and MSRA-7 questionnaires, 20%, 47%, and 33% screened positive according to the respective threshold criteria. Around 27% of JIA patients reported at least one fall in the past year compared to around 33% of healthy participants. However, 20% of JIA participants reported more than four falls in the past year in contrast to 4% of healthy participants. Furthermore, 44% of JIA participants reported difficulty climbing stairs and 17% reported limited ability to walk one kilometer. CONCLUSIONS: SARC-F identified a higher proportion of young adults with JIA reporting functional difficulties and recurrent falls compared with healthy controls. MSRA-5 showed differences in some risk-factor domains. However, without validation against objective measures of muscle mass, strength, or performance, these questionnaires primarily reflect multifactorial JIA-related musculoskeletal impairment rather than sarcopenia per se. Further studies with gold-standard sarcopenia assessments are needed.

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