Outcomes in clinical trials on sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract
Background: In order to improve the quality and comparability of intervention studies, common endpoints have gained significance. The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) consensus paper identified suitable endpoints for trials investigating the treatment of sarcopenia. With the help of a systematic review, we analyzed which endpoints have been used in randomized controlled intervention trials investigating the treatment of sarcopenia to date, to what extent these correspond to the recommended endpoints of the ESCEO consensus and whether minimal clinically important differences (MCID) were defined. Based on these identified endpoints we also aimed to identify which type of intervention may be most effective in enhancing the investigated endpoint.
Methods: A systematic search (PROSPERO ID: CRD42023468128) was carried out in various databases (PubMed, Embase, PsychInfo, Web of Science, Trial Registers) to find studies meeting the following criteria for further analysis: randomized controlled trials (RCTs), geriatric study population, sarcopenia (including probable sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity), intervention study, published until October 2023 and written in English. The meta-analysis was conducted for the most common outcomes.
Results: Ninety publications met the criteria and were analyzed as full texts. The 90 intervention studies used a variety of different diagnostic criteria,…
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