Use of the Ishii Test for screening sarcopenia in older adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) studies

Background The Ishii Test is recommended by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2), however the use of this technique is still little explored in the clinical context and the scientific literature. Objective We aimed to verify the use of the Test of Ishii in screening for sarcopenia in older adults. Methods We searched three electronic databases and two reviewers independently screened and assessed the studies. Studies with older adults (60 years or more) of both genders, no year or language restriction and which aimed to evaluate sarcopenia using the Ishii Test and another diagnostic criteria were selected. A summary of the ROC curve, sensitivity and specificity were performed using the MedCalc and SPSS software programs, respectively. Results A total of 3,298 references were identified in the database, 278 by manually searching, and finally 11 studies were included for the review. The screening test showed good sensitivity and specificity in both genders. All studies showed values above the considered value for the Area Under the Curve (AUC) results, without discriminating power (0.500). Four studies used the original values, and five studies developed a new cut-off point. A summary of the AUC curve showed the diamond close to one, indicating that the Ishii test has good performance for screening sarcopenia (I-2=83,66%; p<0.001; 95%CI: 69.38 to 91.28 for men; and I-2=60.04%; p<0.001; 95%CI: 13.06 to 81.63 for women). Conclusion The Ishii Test can be considered a useful tool for the early identification of sarcopenia in older adults. However, further studies are still needed to understand the behavior of this screening tool. Trial registration CRD42023424392.