Background Protein intake is a modifiable factor associated with sarcopenia prevention; however, no appropriate methods exist to assess dietary protein intake in Koreans. This study developed and validated a simple and convenient food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to determine protein intake in Koreans.
Methods A total of 120 participants aged >19 years were asked to complete both the FFQ used by the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) and the newly developed Korean Protein Assessment Tool (KPAT). Protein intakes measured using the FFQ and the KPAT were compared using Pearson correlation coefficients, Bland-Altman plots, and intraclass correlation coefficients.
Results Protein intakes from the FFQ (62.06±25.56 g/day) and KPAT (61.12±24.26 g/day) did not differ significantly (P=0.144). Pearson’s correlation coefficient values ranging from 0.92 to 0.96 indicated a positive correlation, while the intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.979 indicated excellent reliability in protein intake of the FFQ and the KPAT. The Bland-Altman plot also showed high agreement in the mean differences in protein intakes estimated by the FFQ and the KPAT.
Conclusions KPAT, a newly developed and simplified method, showed an acceptable correlation compared to previous FFQ tools. Thus, the KPAT may be useful to assess dietary protein intake in the Korean population.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
1. Knowledge-driven citizen engagement as a support tool for aquatic ecosystem protection and restoration Dragos Sebastian CRISTEA, Oana-Daniela LUPOAE, Ștefan Mihai PETREA, Ira-Adeline SIMIONOV, Dan MUNTEANU, Catalina ITICESCU Journal of Innovation & Knowledge.2026; 11: 100851. CrossRef
2. Enhancing CNNs via structural intervention with XGBoost Cemil Emre Yavas, Lei Chen, Christopher Kadlec, Jongyeop Kim Engineering Research Express.2025; 7(2): 025230. CrossRef
3. Relationship between Serum Ferritin Levels and Sarcopenia in Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia Patient Rendra Prasetya Saefudin, Siprianus Ugroseno Yudho Bintoro, Sony Wibisono Mudjanarko, Merlyna Savitri, Lukita Pradhevi, Agustinus Vincent, Michael Austin Pradipta Lusida, Kartika Afrida Fauzia Biomolecular and Health Science Journal.2024; 7(2): 125. CrossRef
4. Effectiveness and clinical application of multidisciplinary combined exercise and nutrition intervention for sarcopenic older adults with metabolic syndrome: study protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial Sang Yoon Lee, Jaewon Beom, Jun Hwan Choi, Hak Chul Jang, EunYoung Kim, Keewon Kim, Miji Kim, Ga Yang Shim, Chang Won Won, Jae-Young Lim BMJ Open.2023; 13(7): e070252. CrossRef
Background The purpose of the present study was to assess the daily protein uptake and its relationship with sarcopenia, as defined by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS), among elderly patients with hip fractures.
Methods Forty-seven elderly patients with hip fractures were enrolled in this retrospective observational study. The main outcome measures included protein uptake, muscle mass, and grip strength for sarcopenia in elderly patients. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to AWGS. Wholebody densitometry was used to measure skeletal muscle mass, and muscle strength was evaluated using handgrip testing.
Results Of 47 patients with hip fractures (12 men and 35 women), 37 (79%) patients exhibited insufficient protein intake (range, 0.01-0.588 g/kg/day), and 10 (21%) patients exhibited excessive protein intake (range, 1.215-2.121 g/kg/day). The mean daily protein intake was 56.5 g (range, 7.2–136.0 g). Prevalence of low muscle strength (handgrip strength <18 kg in women and <26 kg in men) was detected in 13 (37%) women and 8 (67%) men (P=0.076). Sarcopenia (lower muscle mass and lower muscle strength) was detected in 9 (26%) women and 6 (50%) men (P=0.119). Although lower protein intake was marginally associated with sarcopenia (P=0.189), it was significantly associated with lower grip strength (P=0.042).
Conclusions The present study demonstrated that insufficient protein intake in elderly patients with hip fractures was common, and lower protein intake was significantly associated with lower muscle strength.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
1. Preo frailty predicts FOF in elderly ortho regression analyse Wu RuiXiao, Xia Yu, Wu Shuang, Tao Xiaomei, Zhong Xiaohui, Ge Linlin, Xiao Bo, Zhao Dan Geriatric Nursing.2026; 69: 103972. CrossRef
2. Sarcopenia: how to determine and manage Jun Young Chung, Sang-Gyun Kim, Seong Hwan Kim, Cheol Hee Park Knee Surgery & Related Research.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
3. Assessment of body composition, sarcopenia and protein intake in mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease Danielle Pessoa Lima, Pauliana Alencar Monteiro, João Rafael Gomes de Luna, Antonio Brazil Viana-Júnior, Lucas Tadeu Rocha Santos, Samuel Brito de Almeida, Rayanne Rego Ferreira Saldanha, Madeleine Sales de Alencar, Fábia Karine de Moura Lopes, Átila Pere Frontiers in Nutrition.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
4. Association Between Protein Intake and Sarcopenia-Related Indicators Among Korean Older Adults: A Scoping Review Minjee Han, Kyung-sook Woo, Kirang Kim Clinical Nutrition Research.2025; 14(3): 216. CrossRef
5. Random forest predictive modeling of prolonged hospital length of stay in elderly hip fracture patients Hao Liu, Fei Xing, Jiabao Jiang, Zhao Chen, Zhou Xiang, Xin Duan Frontiers in Medicine.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
6. Association of Protein Intake with Sarcopenia and Related Indicators Among Korean Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Minjee Han, Kyungsook Woo, Kirang Kim Nutrients.2024; 16(24): 4350. CrossRef
7. Development and validation of risk prediction model for sarcopenia in patients with colorectal cancer Ying Zhang, Yongjian Zhu Frontiers in Oncology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
8. Effects of Muscles on Bone Metabolism—with a Focus on Myokines Beom-Jun Kim Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research.2022; 26(2): 63. CrossRef
9. Malnutrition in Older Adults—Effect on Falls and Fractures: A Narrative Review Malgorzata Kupisz-Urbanska, Ewa Marcinowska-Suchowierska Nutrients.2022; 14(15): 3123. CrossRef
Background Our purpose in this study was to evaluate any deficiency of protein intake for different types of sarcopenia, including osteosarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity and to establish a cut-off value for the relationship between malnutrition, sarcopenia, and osteosarcopenia.
Methods The cross-sectional study was performed using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 4,020 participants (men, 1,698 and women, 2,322) were analyzed in the present study. Sarcopenia is defined according to the criteria for the Asia Working Group for Sarcopenia. To evaluate the adequacy of protein intake, the value obtained by dividing the amount of protein consumed through food by the daily recommended protein amount (50 g/day) of Korean males was defined as the nutrient intake ratio.
Results Total protein (P<0.001 in men, P<0.001 in women) and low dietary intake protein (P<0.001 in men, P=0.046 in women) were significantly lower in the sarcopenia group than in the normal group, and were significantly lower in the osteosarcopenia group than in the normal group for both men and women. The cut-off value of the adjusted weight of protein intake for sarcopenia was 0.58 g/kg/day in men and 0.98 g/kg/day in women. The cut-off value for adjusted weight of protein intake for osteo-sarcopenia was 0.8 g/kg/day in men and 0.5 g/kg/day in women.
Conclusions A comprehensive dietary assessment to detect nutritional deficits that predispose one to or aggravate muscle atrophy is important for establishing a treatment plan for patients with malnutrition.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
1. Association between higher eating frequency and lower odds of low muscle mass in Koreans Mose Chun, Sae Rom Lee Frontiers in Medicine.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
2. Microbial protease supplementation improves gastric emptying and protein digestive fate of beef for the elderly under dynamic in vitro digestion Zhitong Zhou, Yang Liu, Yuki Ishigaki, Shotaro Yamaguchi, Jian Chen, Xiao Liu Food Research International.2025; 202: 115721. CrossRef
3. Sarcopenia: how to determine and manage Jun Young Chung, Sang-Gyun Kim, Seong Hwan Kim, Cheol Hee Park Knee Surgery & Related Research.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
4. Distance from the Community to the City Center Is a Vital Determinant of Dietary Diversity Score for Rural Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Taiwan Chiu-Ying Chen, Hung-Kuan Yen, I-Hui Wu, Yi-Chien Lu, Ning-Huei Sie, Shau-Huai Fu, Chen-Yu Wang Nutrients.2025; 17(8): 1318. CrossRef
5. Nutritional status, dietary inflammatory potential, and risk of osteosarcopenia: the Bushehr Elderly Health (BEH) program Gita Shafiee, Mehrad Nasiri, Zhaleh Shadman, Mehdi Ebrahimi, Narges Zargar Balajam, Ramin Abdi Dezfouli, Iraj Nabipour, Ramin Heshmat The Egyptian Journal of Internal Medicine.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
6. Association Between Protein Intake and Sarcopenia-Related Indicators Among Korean Older Adults: A Scoping Review Minjee Han, Kyung-sook Woo, Kirang Kim Clinical Nutrition Research.2025; 14(3): 216. CrossRef
7. Effects of Strength Training on Body Composition, Physical Performance, and Protein or Calcium Intake in Older People with Osteosarcopenia: A Meta-Analysis Jordan Hernandez-Martinez, Braulio Henrique Magnani Branco, Edgar Vasquez-Carrasco, Izham Cid-Calfucura, Tomás Herrera-Valenzuela, Eduardo Guzmán-Muñoz, Pedro Delgado-Floody, Yeny Concha-Cisternas, Pablo Valdés-Badilla Nutrients.2025; 17(17): 2852. CrossRef
8. Association between low-carbohydrate diet and low-fat diet scores and sarcopenia as determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: a cross-sectional study Sitong Xin, Zibo Wu, Yang Xu, Xiaojing Feng, Yuqi Gao, Yu Han, Jing Zhao, Yuangang Guo, Yan Liu, Fengdan Wang, Bo Li, Xinyao Zhang Nutrition Journal.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
9. Urban-rural differences in the prevalence and associated factors of sarcopenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis Xiaoyan Li, Rongyun Wang, Zhuoer Hou, Qiuhua Sun Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics.2024; 122: 105390. CrossRef
10. Analysis of related factors for sarco-osteoporosis in middle-aged and elderly inpatients and development and validation of a nomogram Dao Juan Peng, Feng Qiong Gao, Yijiao Lou, Yan Ma, Tongxia Xia BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
11. Lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet is inversely associated with the osteosarcopenia in older adults Runnian Huang, Junwei Hu, Yi Li, Sijia Yang, Xin Li, Tianbo Hou, Zibo Ning, Chunhua Ma, Xiaoyue Yuan, Zheng Wang, Tiantian Zhang, Difei Wang BMC Geriatrics.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
12. Higher protein intake may benefit in patients with prolonged mechanical ventilation Chiung-Hsin Chang, Chun-Yu Lin, Yu-Lun Lo, Ting-Yu Lin, Chen-Yiu Hung, Meng-Heng Hsieh, Yueh-Fu Fang, Hung-Yu Huang, Shu-Min Lin, Horng-Chyuan Lin Frontiers in Nutrition.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
13. Association of Protein Intake with Sarcopenia and Related Indicators Among Korean Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Minjee Han, Kyungsook Woo, Kirang Kim Nutrients.2024; 16(24): 4350. CrossRef
14. Dietary inflammatory potential is associated with sarcopenia in patients with hypertension: national health and nutrition examination study Jiabin Tu, Shanshan Shi, Yuchen Liu, Jiaming Xiu, Yanbin Zhang, Bo Wu, Ying Liao, Kaihong Chen, Ganyang Li, Llling Chen Frontiers in Nutrition.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
15. Dietary diversity and possible sarcopenia among older people in China: a nationwide population-based study Qiaoqiao Du, Yanhui Lu, Fan Hu, Xinglin Feng, Yunquan Zhang, Shaojie Li, Chi Zhang, Hua Zhang, Yi Zeng, Yao Yao, Zhaohui Lu, Wenya Zhang, Xiangyang Gao Frontiers in Nutrition.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
16. Association between osteosarcopenia and coronary artery calcification in asymptomatic individuals Chul-Hyun Park, Yong-Taek Lee, Kyung Jae Yoon Scientific Reports.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
17. Change of Computed Tomography-Based Body Composition after Adrenalectomy in Patients with Pheochromocytoma Yousun Ko, Heeryoel Jeong, Seungwoo Khang, Jeongjin Lee, Kyung Won Kim, Beom-Jun Kim Cancers.2022; 14(8): 1967. CrossRef
18. Decreased Serum Level of Sclerostin in Older Adults with Sarcopenia Seong Hee Ahn, Hee-Won Jung, Eunju Lee, Ji Yeon Baek, Il-Young Jang, So Jeong Park, Jin Young Lee, Eunah Choi, Yun Sun Lee, Seongbin Hong, Beom-Jun Kim Endocrinology and Metabolism.2022; 37(3): 487. CrossRef
19. Effects of Muscles on Bone Metabolism—with a Focus on Myokines Beom-Jun Kim Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research.2022; 26(2): 63. CrossRef
20. Body composition in sarcopenia in middle-aged individuals Iuliia G. Samoilova, Mariia V. Matveeva, Ekaterina A. Khoroshunova, Dmitrii A. Kudlay, Ivan V. Tolmachev, Ludmila V. Spirina, Igor V. Mosienko, Vera E. Yun, Ekaterina I. Trifonova, Polina I. Zakharchuk, Tamara D. Vachadze, Liudmila M. Shuliko, Daria E. Ga Terapevticheskii arkhiv.2022; 94(10): 1149. CrossRef
21. Association of Dietary Protein Intake with Muscle Mass in Elderly Chinese: A Cross-Sectional Study Yifei Ouyang, Feifei Huang, Xiaofan Zhang, Li Li, Bing Zhang, Zhihong Wang, Huijun Wang Nutrients.2022; 14(23): 5130. CrossRef
First
Prev
