M. Cesari, F. Landi, R. Calvani, A. Cherubini, M. Di Bari, P. Kortebein, S. Del Signore, R. Le Lain, B. Vellas, M. Pahor, R. Roubenoff, R. Bernabei, E. Marzetti, For the SPRINTT Consortium
Aging Clin Exp Res Epub 2017 Feb 10
Klicken Sie hier um den kompletten Text zu lesen
In the present article, the rationale that guided the operationalization of the theoretical concept of physical frailty and sarcopenia (PF&S), the condition of interest for the “Sarcopenia and Physical Frailty in Older People: Multicomponent Treatment Strategies” (SPRINTT) trial, is presented. In particular, the decisions lead to the choice of the adopted instruments, and the reasons for setting the relevant thresholds are explained. In SPRINTT, the concept of physical frailty is translated with a Short Physical Performance Battery score of ≥3 and ≤9. Concurrently, sarcopenia is defined according to the recent definitions of low muscle mass proposed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health—Sarcopenia Project. Given the preventive purpose of SPRINTT, older persons with mobility disability (operationalized as incapacity to complete a 400-m walk test within 15 min; primary outcome of the trial) at the baseline are not included within the diagnostic spectrum of PF&S.




Comment: When examining the eligibility criteria proposed for the SPRINTT clinical trial, it becomes evident that the key criteria are represented by the two conditions defining PF&S (i.e., reduced physical performance and low ALM) applied to a non-mobility disabled population. All other eligibility criteria are not particularly selective and rather are intended to ensure the safe and proper conduct of the trial. This implies that the SPPB and the FNIH criteria (in the absence of mobility disability based on the 400-m walk test) will indeed represent the main features of the selected population at baseline. This will make the sample most representative of larger older adult populations. In other words, the SPRINTT trial is designed to recruit a “real life” sample of community-dwelling older persons with a clear unmet clinical need due to the concomitant presence of physical frailty and sarcopenia.