Identification of Sarcopenia Components That Discriminate Slow Walking Speed: A Pooled Data Analysis

BACKGROUND The Sarcopenia Definitions and Outcomes Consortium (SDOC) sought to identify cut points for muscle strength and body composition measures derived from dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) that discriminate older adults with slow walking speed. This article presents the core analyses used to guide the SDOC position statements. DESIGN Cross‐sectional data analyses of pooled data. SETTING University‐based research assessment centers. PARTICIPANTS Community‐dwelling men (n = 13,652) and women: (n = 5,115) with information on lean mass by DXA, grip strength (GR), and walking speed. MEASUREMENTS Thirty‐five candidate sarcopenia variables were entered into sex‐stratified classification and regression tree (CART) models to agnostically choose variables and cut points that discriminate slow walkers (