Acupuncture combined with exercise therapy for Sarcopenia in the elderly: A multicenter randomized controlled study protocol.

Sarcopenia (SP) is an age-related disorder characterized by progressive loss of muscle strength, mass, and limb dysfunction, severely compromising the quality of life and life safety in older adults. With the global aging population, the incidence of this disease has been escalating, posing a significant public health challenge. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that acupuncture effectively mitigates muscle loss in rats; however, the field currently lacks robust randomized controlled trials (RCTs), marked by limitations such as the absence of sham acupuncture controls, multicenter designs, and standardized outcome metrics. Therefore, this study integrates acupuncture with exercise therapy, incorporating the following design highlights: A multicenter approach to enhance research reliability; A control group receiving sham acupuncture combined with exercise to eliminate the placebo effect; The most comprehensive and validated set of outcome measures to ensure study rigor and expand the conceptual framework for sarcopenia assessment. This research aims to provide robust evidence for acupuncture as an effective adjuvant therapy for SP. The study has been registered with the International Traditional Medicine Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ITMCTR2024000374).