Skip to main content

Translation and validation of the Korean version of the Sarcopenia Quality of Life (SarQoL-K®) questionnaire and applicability with the SARC-F screening tool

Quality of Life Research volume 30, pages 603–611 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to translate and validate into the Korea language and setting the Sarcopenia Quality of Life (SarQoL®) questionnaire.

Methods

The participants consisted of 450 individuals in Namgaram-2 cohort who were followed up in 2019–2020. The study participants were divided into four groups: (1) SARC-F < 4, (2) SARC-F ≥ 4 and robust grip strength, (3) SARC-F ≥ 4, low grip strength, robust muscle mass, (4) SARC-F ≥ 4, low grip strength, and low muscle mass. To assess construct validity, population with sarcopenia-associated symptoms (SARC-F ≥ 4) apart from the Korean SarQoL (SarQoL-K®) completed the Korean versions of two generic questionnaires, the Short Form-36 and the EuroQoL 5-dimension. To validate the Korean SarQoL®, we assessed its validity (discriminative power, construct validity), reliability (internal consistency, test–retest reliability), and floor/ceiling effects.

Results

The SarQoL-K® questionnaire was translated without major difficulties. The mean SarQoL-K scores were 72.9 (95%, CI; 71.2–74.6) in SARC-F < 4, 54.6 (95%, CI; 50.7–58.3) in SARC-F ≥ 4 and robust grip strength, 47.0 (95%, CI; 43.8–50.1) in SARC-F ≥ 4, low grip strength, robust muscle mass, 46.6 (95%, CI; 43.0–50.1) in SARC-F ≥ 4, low grip strength, and low muscle mass. The results indicated good discriminative power across each four groups (p < 0.001), high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.866), and excellent test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.977, 95% CI 0.975–0.979). No floor- or ceiling-effects were observed.

Conclusions

This is the first study to confirm the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the SarQoL®. We demonstrated that the population with sarcopenia-associated symptoms (determined using the SARC-F questionnaire) has a lower quality of life.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1

References

  1. Statistics Korea. (2019). Statics Korea, 2018. https://kostat.go.kr/portal/korea/kor/nw/1/1/index.board?bmode=read&aSeq=370779.

  2. Chang, A. Y., Skirbekk, V. F., Tyrovolas, S., Kassebaum, N. J., & Dieleman, J. L. (2019). Measuring population ageing: An analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet Public Health, 4(3), e159–e167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Fried, L. P., Tangen, C. M., Walston, J., et al. (2001). Frailty in older adults: Evidence for a phenotype. Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 56(3), M146–M156.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Ferrucci, L., Guralnik, J. M., Studenski, S., Fried, L. P., Cutler, G. B., Jr., Walston, J. D., et al. (2004). Designing randomized, controlled trials aimed at preventing or delaying functional decline and disability in frail, older persons: A consensus report. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 52(4), 625–634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Han, E. S., Lee, Y., & Kim, J. (2014). Association of cognitive impairment with frailty in community-dwelling older adults. International Psychogeriatrics, 26(1), 155–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bunt, S., Steverink, N., Olthof, J., van der Schans, C. P., & Hobbelen, J. S. M. (2017). Social frailty in older adults: A scoping review. European Journal of Ageing, 14(3), 323–334.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Jeong, H. S., Lee, D. W., Park, K. H., Lee, Y. K., Bae, S. H., Kang, M. J., et al. (2013). Clinical factors related to frailty estimated by the Korean frailty index. Journal of the Korean Geriatrics Society, 17(2), 71–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Makizako, H., Shimada, H., Doi, T., Tsutsumimoto, K., & Suzuki, T. (2015). Impact of physical frailty on disability in community-dwelling older adults: A prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal Open, 5(9), e008462.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Beaudart, C., Biver, E., Reginster, J. Y., Rizzoli, R., Rolland, Y., Bautmans, I., et al. (2015). Development of a self-administrated quality of life questionnaire for sarcopenia in elderly subjects: The SarQoL. Age and Ageing, 44(6), 960–966.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Beaudart, C., Edwards, M., Moss, C., Reginster, J. Y., Moon, R., Parsons, C., et al. (2017). English translation and validation of the SarQoL ®, a quality of life questionnaire specific for sarcopenia. Age and Ageing, 46(2), 271–276.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Konstantynowicz, J., Abramowicz, P., Glinkowski, W., Taranta, E., Marcinowicz, L., Dymitrowicz, M., et al. (2018). Polish validation of the SarQoL®, a quality of life questionnaire specific to sarcopenia. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 7(10), 323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Fábrega-Cuadros, R., Martínez-Amat, A., Cruz-Díaz, D., Aibar-Almazán, A., & Hita-Contreras, F. (2020). Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the sarcopenia and quality of life, a quality of life questionnaire specific for sarcopenia. Calcified Tissue International, 106(3), 274–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Tsekoura, M., Billis, E., Gliatis, J., Tsepis, E., Matzaroglou, C., Sakkas, G. K., et al. (2020). Cross cultural adaptation of the Greek sarcopenia quality of life (SarQoL) questionnaire. Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(7), 1006–1012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Geerinck, A., Scheppers, A., Beaudart, C., Bruyère, O., Vandenbussche, W., Bautmans, R., et al. (2018). Translation and validation of the Dutch SarQoL®, a quality of life questionnaire specific to sarcopenia. Journal of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions, 18(4), 463–472.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Cruz-Jentoft, A. J., Bahat, G., Bauer, J., et al. (2019). Sarcopenia: Revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age and Ageing, 48(1), 16–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Choi, Y. S., Kim, M. J., Lee, G. Y., Seo, Y. M., Seo, A. R., Kim, B., et al. (2019). The Association between frailty and disability among the elderly in rural areas of Korea. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(14), 2481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Yoo, J. I., Kim, M. J., Na, J. B., Chun, Y. H., Park, Y. J., Park, Y., et al. (2018). Relationship between endothelial function and skeletal muscle strength in community dwelling elderly women. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 9(6), 1034–1041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kim, S., Kim, M., & Won, C. W. (2018). Validation of the Korean version of the SARC-F questionnaire to assess sarcopenia: Korean frailty and aging cohort study. Journal of American Medical Directors Association, 19(1), 40–45.e1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ha, Y. C., Yoo, J. I., Park, Y. J., Lee, C. H., & Park, K. S. (2018). Measurement of uncertainty using standardized protocol of hand grip strength measurement in patients with sarcopenia. Journal of Bone Metabolism, 25(4), 243–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Chen, L. K., Woo, J., Assantachai, P., Auyeung, T. W., Chou, M. Y., Iijima, K., et al. (2020). Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia: 2019 consensus update on sarcopenia diagnosis and treatment. J Am Med Dir Assoc., 21(3), 300–307.e2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Mokkink, L. B., Terwee, C. B., Patrick, D. L., Alonso, J., Stratford, P. W., Knol, D. L., et al. (2010). The COSMIN study reached international consensus on taxonomy, terminology, and definitions of measurement properties for health-related patient-reported outcomes. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 63(7), 737–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Terwee, C. B., Bot, S. D. M., de Boer, M. R., Windt, D. A., Knol, D. L., Dekker, J., et al. (2007). Quality criteria were proposed for measurement properties of health status questionnaires. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 60(1), 34–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Syddall, H. E., Martin, H. J., Harwood, R. H., Cooper, C., & Aihie, S. A. (2009). The SF-36: A simple, effective measure of mobility-disability for epidemiological studies. Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, 13(1), 57–62.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Rabin, R., & de Charro, F. (2001). EQ-5D: A measure of health status from the EuroQol Group. Annals of Medicine, 33(5), 337–343.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Munro, B. (2005). Statistical methods for health care research (5th ed., pp. 239–259). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Shorter, E., Sannicandro, A. J., Poulet, B., & Goljanek-Whysall, K. (2019). Skeletal muscle wasting and its relationship with osteoarthritis: A mini-review of mechanisms and current interventions. Current Rheumatology Reports, 21(8), 40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Bahat, G., Yilmaz, O., Kılıç, C., Oren, M. M., & Karan, M. A. (2018). Performance of SARC-F in regard to sarcopenia definitions, muscle mass and functional measures. Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, 22(8), 898–903.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. NRF-2019R1F1A1059208) and the centers for farmer’s safety and health, ministry of agriculture, food, and rural affairs.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Korea

    Jun-Il Yoo

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Yong-Chan Ha

  3. College of Medicine/East-West Medical Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Miji Kim

  4. Department of Information & Statistics, College of Natural Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea

    Sung-Hyo Seo

  5. Center for Farmer’s Safety and Health, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Republic of Korea

    Sung-Hyo Seo, Mi-Ji Kim, Gyeong-Ye Lee, Young-Mi Seo, Changsu Sung & Ki-Soo Park

  6. Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine and Institute of Health Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju-daero, 816 Beon-gil 15, Jinju, 52727, Republic of Korea

    Mi-Ji Kim & Ki-Soo Park

Authors
  1. Jun-Il Yoo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yong-Chan Ha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Miji Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sung-Hyo Seo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mi-Ji Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Gyeong-Ye Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Young-Mi Seo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Changsu Sung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Ki-Soo Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ki-Soo Park.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yoo, JI., Ha, YC., Kim, M. et al. Translation and validation of the Korean version of the Sarcopenia Quality of Life (SarQoL-K®) questionnaire and applicability with the SARC-F screening tool. Qual Life Res 30, 603–611 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-020-02630-2

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-020-02630-2

Keywords

  • Cross cultural adaptation
  • Korea
  • Sarcopenia
  • Quality of life