Work

Assessing the utility of two sarcopenia screening tools in predicting mortality risk among survivors of critical illness: a single-center study

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Older survivors of critical illness often have reduced muscle reserve and functional impairment, but practical tools for identifying sarcopenia risk at clinically relevant time points remain uncertain. This prospective single-center study included 483 ICU survivors aged ≥ 60 years. Sarcopenia risk was assessed using the SARC-CalF score within 24 h of ICU admission and the Ishii score at ICU discharge. The primary outcomes were 30-day and 365-day all-cause mortality after hospital discharge, with observed mortality rates of 9.3% and 23.8%, respectively. In multivariable models adjusted for age, sex, APACHE II, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and Clinical Frailty Scale, both scores were independently associated with 30-day and 365-day mortality. Adding either score to the base model provided incremental prognostic information mainly for 365-day mortality, whereas the improvement for 30-day mortality was limited and not statistically significant for discrimination.These findings suggest that SARC-CalF at ICU admission and Ishii score at ICU discharge are feasible, noninvasive screening tools for identifying older ICU survivors at increased mortality risk—and could help inform post-ICU risk stratification and targeted rehabilitation planning.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-63220-9

Authors: Long Chen, Juan Xu, Raoman Feng, Weimin Bai

Institutions: Henan University, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hainan Medical University

Language: English

Topic: Nutrition and Health in Aging

Subfield: Physiology (medical)

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690