SARC-F: muscle strength and function
Five questions about strength, walking, rising from a chair, climbing stairs and falls, published by Malmstrom and Morley in 2013 as a screen for sarcopenia Age-related loss of muscle mass and strength., the loss of muscle strength and mass with age. Each answer carries the points the authors gave it, the total runs from 0 to 10, and the result shows what the authors say about that score. A score can be kept with its date, so a later score sits beside the earlier one.
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The sarcopenia page lists the options EBL grades for it, free to read.
The questionnaire
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What the score means, in the authors’ words
Scores run from 0 to 10.
- 0 to 3: Below the cut-off of 4 that the authors set.
- 4 to 10: At or above the cut-off. The authors' form states: “A score equal to or greater than 4 is predictive of sarcopenia and poor outcomes.”
The authors validated the cut-off in three large cohorts of older adults. People scoring 4 or more had more difficulty with daily tasks, slower chair stands and walking, lower grip strength, more recent hospital stays and higher mortality during follow-up than people scoring below 4.
SARC-F is a screening questionnaire. It asks about symptoms and does not measure muscle. A diagnosis of sarcopenia rests on measured muscle strength, muscle mass and physical performance.
Related on EBL
- Sarcopenia: the options EBL grades for it, with their letters
- Personal tracking: where grip strength can be kept with its date
Source and terms of use
- Malmstrom TK, Morley JE. SARC-F: a simple questionnaire to rapidly diagnose sarcopenia. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2013;14(8):531-532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2013.05.018
- Malmstrom TK, Miller DK, Simonsick EM, Ferrucci L, Morley JE. SARC-F: a symptom score to predict persons with sarcopenia at risk for poor functional outcomes. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2016;7(1):28-36. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.12048
Terms of use: Free to use with author reference. (as stated here, checked 2026-11). The questions, answers and points are reproduced as published.
How it works
Where the questions, points and cut-off come from
The questions, the answers and the points for each answer are the authors’ own, reproduced as published, and the source papers are listed with the questionnaire. The page adds them up and prints, beside the total, the authors’ own words about that range of scores. EBL adds no interpretation of its own.
A kept score is stored with its date. Kept scores are listed by date with the change from the one before. A change shows what moved, not why.
What happens to your data
Nothing you enter leaves this device. Your answers and any score you keep are saved in this browser’s own storage, nothing is sent to EBL or anyone else, and signing in does not copy them to your account. Because EBL holds no copy, clearing this browser’s site data removes them for good.