{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T06:28:10Z","timestamp":1775197690687,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,5]],"date-time":"2025-09-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757030400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background and objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>Sarcopenia is a current health threat that accompanies nutritional problems, cancers, and chronic diseases all around the world. Individuals in the risk group, especially the older adults, can be protected against sarcopenia with early diagnosis and effective interventions. The aim of this study is to conduct the first national survey to determine the awareness, knowledge, and adequacy levels of Turkish family physicians regarding sarcopenia management.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This cross-sectional study was performed on family physicians serving in family health centers across T\u00fcrkiye. The mobile phone numbers of family physicians were accessed through the Federation of Family Physicians Associations. Data were collected through a 33-item online purpose-designed survey from April 1 to June 2024. The Kolmogorov\u2013Smirnov test was used to evaluate the conformity of the variables to the normal distribution. Chi-square test was applied for comparisons between groups.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 405 family physicians representing all seven regions in T\u00fcrkiye participated in the study. The mean score of the participants\u2019 competence level in sarcopenia management was found to be 3.37\u202f\u00b1\u202f1.98 out of 10 points. Receiving training on palliative care and sarcopenia before and\/or after graduation and having people diagnosed with sarcopenia in the immediate environment provided a positive and significant difference in terms of sarcopenia management competence scores (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f0.012, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f0.001, respectively).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The findings of the study reveal deficiencies in awareness, knowledge, and management of sarcopenia among family physicians. Expanding the subject of sarcopenia in the medical school curriculum, including sarcopenia management in guidelines for primary health care providers and providing equipment support, ensuring that family physicians are more proactive and competent in the management of sarcopenia may be a rational approach within the scope of protecting and improving individual and public health.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1660782","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,5]],"date-time":"2025-09-05T04:14:21Z","timestamp":1757045661000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Addressing sarcopenia management in primary care in T\u00fcrkiye: gaps in the field and training needs of family physicians"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ahmed","family":"Almatar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"\u015eenay","family":"Ko\u00e7ako\u011flu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1093\/ageing\/afy169","article-title":"Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis","volume":"48","author":"Cruz-Jentoft","year":"2018","journal-title":"Age Ageing"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.14283\/jfa.2017.30","article-title":"Implications of ICD-10 for sarcopenia clinical practice and clinical trials: report by the international conference on frailty and sarcopenia research task force","volume":"7","author":"Vellas","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Frailty Aging"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"155533","DOI":"10.1016\/j.metabol.2023.155533","article-title":"Epidemiology of sarcopenia: prevalence, risk factors, and consequences","volume":"144","author":"Yuan","year":"2023","journal-title":"Metabolism"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"229","DOI":"10.1007\/s00223-016-0220-9","article-title":"The future prevalence of sarcopenia in Europe: a claim for public health action","volume":"100","author":"Ethgen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Calcif Tissue Int"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"766","DOI":"10.1007\/s12603-018-1058-9","article-title":"Muscle, health and costs: a glance at their relationship","volume":"22","author":"Mijnarends","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Nutr Health Aging"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cger.2016.08.002","article-title":"Pathogenesis and management of sarcopenia","volume":"33","author":"Dhillon","year":"2017","journal-title":"Clin Geriatr Med"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1630","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm10081630","article-title":"Benefits of resistance training in early and late stages of frailty and sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies","volume":"10","author":"Talar","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Clin Med"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1007\/s40520-016-0714-3","article-title":"Physical frailty, sarcopenia, and the enablement of autonomy: philosophical issues in geriatric medicine","volume":"29","author":"Blasimme","year":"2017","journal-title":"Aging Clin Exp Res"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1016\/j.afos.2021.02.001","article-title":"Sarcopenia and mortality in different clinical conditions: a meta-analysis","volume":"7","author":"Lee","year":"2021","journal-title":"Osteoporos Sarcopenia"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1596","DOI":"10.1002\/jcsm.13263","article-title":"Association of muscle wasting with mortality risk among adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies","volume":"14","author":"Zhou","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e13772","DOI":"10.1002\/jcsm.13772","article-title":"Associations between exercise training, physical activity, sedentary behaviour and mortality: an umbrella review of meta-analyses","volume":"16","author":"Rahmati","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"596","DOI":"10.3390\/nu17030596","article-title":"Perspectives on diet and exercise interaction for healthy aging: opportunities to reduce malnutrition risk and optimize fitness","volume":"17","author":"Moradell","year":"2025","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102057","DOI":"10.1016\/j.arr.2023.102057","article-title":"Sarcopenia and malignancies: epidemiology, clinical classification and implications","volume":"91","author":"Zhang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ageing Res Rev"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"293","DOI":"10.5582\/bst.2023.01130","article-title":"Association between sarcopenia with incident cardio-cerebrovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"17","author":"Fang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Biosci Trends"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1017\/S0029665124007432","article-title":"Nutrition in the prevention and treatment of skeletal muscle ageing and sarcopenia: a single nutrient, a whole food and a whole diet approach","author":"Granic","year":"2024","journal-title":"Proc Nutr Soc"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s00592-025-02527-x","article-title":"Obesity paradox: association between lipid metabolism indices and skeletal muscle mass in older adults: the mediating role of uric acid","author":"Sun","year":"2025","journal-title":"Acta Diabetol"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"588","DOI":"10.1002\/jpen.2635","article-title":"Association between isolated or combined malnutrition and sarcopenia and quality of life in heart failure outpatients: a cross-sectional study","volume":"48","author":"Knobloch","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Parenter Enter Nutr"},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"12493","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-025-97769-8","article-title":"Association between the geriatric nutritional risk index with the risk of frailty and mortality in the elderly population","volume":"15","author":"Qin","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1595","DOI":"10.1111\/jgs.18227","article-title":"Limited physician knowledge of sarcopenia: a survey","volume":"71","author":"Guralnik","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Am Geriatr Soc"},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"105923","DOI":"10.1016\/j.archger.2025.105835","article-title":"Knowledge, awareness, beliefs, attitudes, current practices, and perceptions of responsibility to the identification and management of sarcopenia among Australian general practitioners and practice nurses: a national survey","volume":"137","author":"Daly","year":"2025","journal-title":"Arch Gerontol Geriatr"},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1998","DOI":"10.3390\/nu15081998","article-title":"Exercise programs combined with diet supplementation improve body composition and physical function in older adults with sarcopenia: a systematic review","volume":"15","author":"Hern\u00e1ndez-Lepe","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"274","DOI":"10.14283\/jfa.2022.7","article-title":"The awareness and knowledge regarding sarcopenia among healthcare professionals: a scoping review","volume":"11","author":"Yao","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Frailty Aging"},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5179","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph20065179","article-title":"Challenges in the Management of Sarcopenia in the primary care setting: a scoping review","volume":"20","author":"Kandayah","year":"2023","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"103959","DOI":"10.1016\/j.archger.2019.103959","article-title":"Limitations of SARC-F in the diagnosis of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults","volume":"87","author":"Kera","year":"2020","journal-title":"Arch Gerontol Geriatr"},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"630","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jamda.2014.04.021","article-title":"Validating the SARC-F: a suitable community screening tool for sarcopenia?","volume":"15","author":"Woo","year":"2014","journal-title":"J Am Med Dir Assoc"},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clnesp.2022.01.027","article-title":"Screening, diagnosis and monitoring of sarcopenia: when to use which tool?","volume":"48","author":"Ackermans","year":"2022","journal-title":"Clin Nutr ESPEN"},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.2147\/CLEP.S148638","article-title":"Comparison of the performance of five screening methods for sarcopenia","volume":"10","author":"Locquet","year":"2017","journal-title":"Clin Epidemiol"},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"323","DOI":"10.2147\/CIA.S438144","article-title":"Obstacles to the early diagnosis and Management of Sarcopenia: current perspectives","volume":"19","author":"Ooi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Clin Interv Aging"},{"key":"ref29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"655759","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2021.655759","article-title":"Development of a simple and practical screening tool for detection of sarcopenia in older people: the Bushehr elderly health program","volume":"8","author":"Shafiee","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Med"},{"key":"ref30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.14475\/JHPC.2025.28.1.10","article-title":"Sarcopenia in terminally ill patients with cancer: clinical implications, diagnostic challenges, and management strategies","volume":"28","author":"Go","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Hosp Palliat Care"},{"key":"ref31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1355","DOI":"10.9789\/2175-5361.rpcfo.v12.9494","article-title":"Sarcopenia in cancer patients undergoing palliative care: an integrative literature review","volume":"13","author":"Ara\u00fajo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Rev Pesq Cuid Fundam Online"},{"key":"ref32","year":""},{"key":"ref33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1007\/s11357-023-01016-9","article-title":"Sarcopenia: no consensus, no diagnostic criteria, and no approved indication\u2014how did we get here?","volume":"46","author":"Evans","year":"2024","journal-title":"Geroscience"},{"key":"ref34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0185837","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0185837","article-title":"Lack of knowledge and availability of diagnostic equipment could hinder the diagnosis of sarcopenia and its management","volume":"12","author":"Reijnierse","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e185","DOI":"10.1111\/ajag.12730","article-title":"Current knowledge and practice of Australian and New Zealand health-care professionals in sarcopenia diagnosis and treatment: time to move forward!","volume":"39","author":"Yeung","year":"2020","journal-title":"Australas J Ageing"},{"key":"ref36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1450","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clnu.2016.03.023","article-title":"Unsatisfactory knowledge and use of terminology regarding malnutrition, starvation, cachexia and sarcopenia among dietitians","volume":"35","author":"Ter Beek","year":"2016","journal-title":"Clin Nutr"},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5263","DOI":"10.1007\/s00520-020-05371-7","article-title":"Awareness, percptions and practices regarding cancer-related malnutrition and sarcopenia: a survey of cancer clinicians","volume":"28","author":"Kiss","year":"2020","journal-title":"Support Care Cancer"},{"key":"ref38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.3892\/wasj.2025.312","article-title":"Prevalence and predictive factors for obesity, sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in patients with chronic stroke","volume":"7","author":"Nimphan","year":"2025","journal-title":"World Acad Sci J"},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"436","DOI":"10.3390\/nu16030436","article-title":"Diagnostic criteria and measurement techniques of sarcopenia: a critical evaluation of the up-to-date evidence","volume":"16","author":"Voulgaridou","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"ref40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.33631\/sabd.1465755","article-title":"Huzurevinde Ya\u015fayan Ya\u015fl\u0131larda Sarkopeni Riski ve Maln\u00fctrisyon ile Etkileyen Fakt\u00f6rlerin Belirlenmesi","volume":"15","author":"\u00c7etinkaya","year":"2025","journal-title":"SABD"},{"key":"ref41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"568","DOI":"10.15537\/smj.2019.6.23917","article-title":"Prevalence of sarcopenia and related factors in community-dwelling elderly individuals","volume":"40","author":"Simsek","year":"2019","journal-title":"Saudi Med J"},{"key":"ref42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2047","DOI":"10.1007\/s40520-022-02164-2","article-title":"Screening for frailty and sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study from the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey","volume":"34","author":"Sahin","year":"2022","journal-title":"Aging Clin Exp Res"},{"key":"ref43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1093\/ageing\/afy106","article-title":"The prevalence of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults, an exploration of differences between studies and within definitions: a systematic review and meta-analyses","volume":"48","author":"Mayhew","year":"2018","journal-title":"Age Ageing"},{"key":"ref44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"140","DOI":"10.2152\/jmi.64.140","article-title":"Impact of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation nutrition team on evaluating sarcopenia, cachexia and practice of rehabilitation nutrition","volume":"64","author":"Kokura","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Med Investig"},{"key":"ref45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e054950","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2021-054950","article-title":"Combating sarcopenia in geriatric rehabilitation patients: study protocol of the EMPOWER-GR observational cohort, sarcopenia awareness survey and randomised controlled feasibility trial","volume":"12","author":"Verstraeten","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1186\/s12877-024-04964-9","article-title":"Application, knowledge and training needs regarding comprehensive geriatric assessment among geriatric practitioners in healthcare institutions: a cross-sectional study","volume":"24","author":"Shen","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Geriatr"},{"key":"ref47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9106500","DOI":"10.1155\/2024\/9106500","article-title":"Nurses' perspectives and understanding of sarcopenia in a tertiary care hospital","volume":"12","author":"Khuankaew","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Aging Res"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Public Health"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1660782\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,5]],"date-time":"2025-09-05T04:14:22Z","timestamp":1757045662000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1660782\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,5]]},"references-count":47,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1660782"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1660782","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-2565"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-2565","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,5]]},"article-number":"1660782"}}