Effects of the Strength, Assistance in walking, Rise from a chair, Climb stairs, and Falls score on postoperative clinical outcomes following colorectal cancer surgery: a retrospective study

Sarcopenia has known negative effects on clinical and oncological outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The use of the Strength, Assistance in walking, Rise from a chair, Climb stairs, and Falls (SARC-F) questionnaire to determine the effects of sarcopenia on postoperative complications of CRC has not been reported to date. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship of SARC-F score with clinicopathologic outcomes after CRC surgery. We retrospectively included 285 patients who completed SARC-F questionnaires before CRC surgery between July 2019 and March 2022. Patients with an SARC-F score ≥4 (total score: 10) were classified in the high SARC-F group. Overall, 34 (11.9%) patients had high SARC-F scores. These patients were older (76.9 ± 8.5 vs. 64.5 ± 11.4 years, p