Weight and BMI miss sarcopenia, especially in thin older adults and in those with obesity. A timed five-times chair-stand test needs only a chair and a watch and captures lower-limb strength, which predicts falls and loss of independence.
Ask the patient to stand up and sit down five times as quickly as possible with arms folded. Taking 12 seconds or longer suggests low strength and probable sarcopenia under Asian Working Group criteria.
- Use a standard chair without arms, arms folded across the chest.
- 12 seconds or more suggests probable sarcopenia.
- Being unable to complete the test is itself a finding.
- Repeat at follow-up to track response to exercise and nutrition.
Why it matters
A one-minute bedside test identifies the muscle weakness behind falls and frailty that weight alone misses.
Read the rest in the app
You have read your two free briefings this month. The app carries all 27 specialties, every morning, free — and this finding is waiting in it.
Scan to keep reading on your phone. No account needed to start.
Tomorrow morning, before your first patient
One edition a day for geriatrics, written by the desk, every claim tied to its paper. Six minutes.
Get the app — free