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SarcopeniaPAPY-SARCMNCT05869487

Calf Circumference Versus X-ray Absorptiometry in the Diagnosis of Sarcopenia in Elderly Hospitalized Patients

A study testing Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in people with Sarcopenia, run by Centre Hospitalier Régional d'Orléans at 1 site in France.

Recruiting

Looking for participants now. Contact the study team or a site below to ask about taking part.

Sites and contacts
Official record
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Trial summary

This is a prospective single-center study to evaluate a diagnostic method. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the performance of calf circumference as a diagnostic method for sarcopenia in hospitalized elderly people, compared to a gold standard method which is X-ray absorptiometry. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 75 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Sarcopenia
What is being tested?
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
Type of treatment
Surgery or procedure
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
298 participants
Where
1 siteFrance
Study dates
11 Dec 2023to 11 Apr 2027
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 75 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Age greater than or equal to 75 years
  • Hospitalization in a medical department or in the follow-up care or rehabilitation department of the Hospital Center of Orléans
  • Presence of an etiological criterion of undernutrition
  • Presence of a decrease in muscle strength

Who cannot join

  • Presence of one of two phenotypic criteria for undernutrition other than sarcopenia, which are body mass index less than 22 kilogram per square meter and weight loss (≥ 5 percent over 1 month or ≥ 10 percent over 6 months or ≥10 percent compared with usual weight before the disease).
  • Refusal to participate in the study
  • Patient under legal protection
  • Impossible to perform X-ray absorptiometry (behavioral problems, functional constraints to climb on the DXA machine)
  • Person not affiliated to a social security system

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

France1 site, 1 recruiting
  • CHU d'Orléans

    Orléans

    Matthieu COULONGEAT, MD

    Matthieu COULONGEAT, MD

    Recruiting

Other trials in France

About this study

Official title: Evaluation of a Diagnostic Method: Calf Circumference Versus X-ray Absorptiometry in the Diagnosis of Sarcopenia in Elderly Hospitalized Participants

This is a prospective single-center study to evaluate a diagnostic method. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the performance of calf circumference as a diagnostic method for sarcopenia in hospitalized elderly people, compared to a gold standard method which is X-ray absorptiometry. The study population are hospitalizing participants aged 75 years and older with an indication to search for sarcopenia.

Read the detailed description

Sarcopenia is a loss of muscle mass associated with a loss of muscle strength. Sarcopenia is associated with an increase of mortality, risk of falling and hospitalization. The gold standard for assessing loss of muscle mass is X-ray absorptiometry. However, this exam is not systematically performed. The calf circumference (cutoff less than 31 centimeters) is preferentially used. However, this cutoff was defined from a population of women with a mean age of 80 years and a unfrail phenotypic profile that does not allow this result to be applied to elderly hospitalized patients.

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of calf circumference as a diagnostic method for sarcopenia in hospitalized elderly people, compared to a gold standard method which is X-ray absorptiometry.

This is a single-center prospective study to evaluate a diagnostic method. The participants in the study will be hospitalized patients aged 75 years and over, with an indication to search for sarcopenia in the context of screening for protein-energy undernutrition under the recommendations of the French National Authority for Health. Participants will be included after being informed about the protocol and after obtaining their free and informed oral consent. Measurement of calf circumference will be performed before absorptiometry, the results of which will be analyzed in a blinded. The number of subjects to be included with a expected prevalence of 75%, specificity of 95% and an accuracy of 2% is 298 participants according to the literature. A sensitivity and specificity analysis will be performed using the ROC curve. A linear regression analysis will be performed with a significance threshold for the alpha risk of 5%.

Conditions
Sarcopenia
Being tested
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
Keywords
Sarcopenia, Absorptiometry, Photon
Medical subject headings
Sarcopenia

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometryRadiation

    Whole body x-ray absorptiometry

Study groups in NCT05869487
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
X-rayOtherWhole body x-ray absorptiometry for measurement of appendicular muscle mass in kilograms. Only one measurement per participant.
Receives: Radiation: Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Measurement of muscle mass using calf circumference

    Measurement with a tape measure (in centimetres) of the maximum circumference of the calf

    Measured: Day 2

  2. Measurement of muscle mass using X-ray absorptiometry

    Measurement of appendicular mass by X-ray absorptiometry in kilograms

    Measured: Day 2

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Arm circumference

    Measurement with a tape measure (in centimetres) of the maximum circumference of the arm

    Measured: Day 0

  2. Circumference of the thigh

    Measurement with a tape measure (in centimetres) of the maximum circumference of the thigh

    Measured: Day 0

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted22 May 2023
  2. Study start11 Dec 2023
  3. Primary completion11 Apr 2027 (estimated)
  4. Study completion11 Apr 2027 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Diagnosis
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Model description
This is a prospective single-center evaluation of a diagnostic method
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
298 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05869487
Sponsor's protocol ID
CHRO-2023-02
Acronym
PAPY-SARCM
Status last verified
Dec 2025
First submitted
11 May 2023
Last updated
30 Dec 2025
Results posted
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Librero J, Peiro S, Ordinana R. Chronic comorbidity and outcomes of hospital care: length of stay, mortality, and readmission at 30 and 365 days. J Clin Epidemiol. 1999 Mar;52(3):171-9. doi: 10.1016/s0895-4356(98)00160-7.

    PubMed 10210233
  • Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Bahat G, Bauer J, Boirie Y, Bruyere O, Cederholm T, Cooper C, Landi F, Rolland Y, Sayer AA, Schneider SM, Sieber CC, Topinkova E, Vandewoude M, Visser M, Zamboni M; Writing Group for the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2), and the Extended Group for EWGSOP2. Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age Ageing. 2019 Jan 1;48(1):16-31. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afy169.

    PubMed 30312372
  • Rolland Y, Lauwers-Cances V, Cournot M, Nourhashemi F, Reynish W, Riviere D, Vellas B, Grandjean H. Sarcopenia, calf circumference, and physical function of elderly women: a cross-sectional study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2003 Aug;51(8):1120-4. doi: 10.1046/j.1532-5415.2003.51362.x.

    PubMed 12890076
  • Beaudart C, Zaaria M, Pasleau F, Reginster JY, Bruyere O. Health Outcomes of Sarcopenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLoS One. 2017 Jan 17;12(1):e0169548. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169548. eCollection 2017.

    PubMed 28095426
  • Pagotto V, Santos KFD, Malaquias SG, Bachion MM, Silveira EA. Calf circumference: clinical validation for evaluation of muscle mass in the elderly. Rev Bras Enferm. 2018 Mar-Apr;71(2):322-328. doi: 10.1590/0034-7167-2017-0121. English, Portuguese.

    PubMed 29412289
  • Kawakami R, Murakami H, Sanada K, Tanaka N, Sawada SS, Tabata I, Higuchi M, Miyachi M. Calf circumference as a surrogate marker of muscle mass for diagnosing sarcopenia in Japanese men and women. Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2015 Aug;15(8):969-76. doi: 10.1111/ggi.12377. Epub 2014 Sep 20.

    PubMed 25243821
  • Bahat G, Tufan A, Tufan F, Kilic C, Akpinar TS, Kose M, Erten N, Karan MA, Cruz-Jentoft AJ. Cut-off points to identify sarcopenia according to European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) definition. Clin Nutr. 2016 Dec;35(6):1557-1563. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2016.02.002. Epub 2016 Feb 11.

    PubMed 26922142
  • Maeda K, Koga T, Nasu T, Takaki M, Akagi J. Predictive Accuracy of Calf Circumference Measurements to Detect Decreased Skeletal Muscle Mass and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism-Defined Malnutrition in Hospitalized Older Patients. Ann Nutr Metab. 2017;71(1-2):10-15. doi: 10.1159/000478707. Epub 2017 Jun 24.

    PubMed 28647743
  • Roberts HC, Denison HJ, Martin HJ, Patel HP, Syddall H, Cooper C, Sayer AA. A review of the measurement of grip strength in clinical and epidemiological studies: towards a standardised approach. Age Ageing. 2011 Jul;40(4):423-9. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afr051. Epub 2011 May 30.

    PubMed 21624928
  • Dodds RM, Syddall HE, Cooper R, Benzeval M, Deary IJ, Dennison EM, Der G, Gale CR, Inskip HM, Jagger C, Kirkwood TB, Lawlor DA, Robinson SM, Starr JM, Steptoe A, Tilling K, Kuh D, Cooper C, Sayer AA. Grip strength across the life course: normative data from twelve British studies. PLoS One. 2014 Dec 4;9(12):e113637. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113637. eCollection 2014.

    PubMed 25474696
  • Studenski SA, Peters KW, Alley DE, Cawthon PM, McLean RR, Harris TB, Ferrucci L, Guralnik JM, Fragala MS, Kenny AM, Kiel DP, Kritchevsky SB, Shardell MD, Dam TT, Vassileva MT. The FNIH sarcopenia project: rationale, study description, conference recommendations, and final estimates. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2014 May;69(5):547-58. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glu010.

    PubMed 24737557
  • Gould H, Brennan SL, Kotowicz MA, Nicholson GC, Pasco JA. Total and appendicular lean mass reference ranges for Australian men and women: the Geelong osteoporosis study. Calcif Tissue Int. 2014 Apr;94(4):363-72. doi: 10.1007/s00223-013-9830-7. Epub 2014 Jan 5.

    PubMed 24390582
  • Cheng KY, Chow SK, Hung VW, Wong CH, Wong RM, Tsang CS, Kwok T, Cheung WH. Diagnosis of sarcopenia by evaluating skeletal muscle mass by adjusted bioimpedance analysis validated with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2021 Dec;12(6):2163-2173. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12825. Epub 2021 Oct 4.

    PubMed 34609065

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in people with Sarcopenia, run by Centre Hospitalier Régional d'Orléans at 1 site in France.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 5 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 30 Dec 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in France. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact ELODIE POUGOUE (+33238744086, elodie.pougoue-touko@chr-orleans.fr), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Measurement of muscle mass using calf circumference (time frame: Day 2). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05869487, which also lists 13 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 30 Dec 2025.

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