Objective:To investigate the effect of sarcopenia on physical performance and nutritional status in elderly patients with gastrointestinal tumors.Methods:a total of 120 eligible in-patients were enrolled from gastrointestinal surgery department of a Grade A tertiary hospital in Ningbo city from September 2021 to January 2022. General clinical data were collected, nutritional risk was screened using Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002), physical performance was assessed by Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), skeletal muscle index at the third lumbar vertebra level (L3 SMI) was calculated using abdominal CT scan, and grip strength/muscle strength, gait speed by 6 Meter Timed Walk Test and calf circumference were measured. Subjects were divided into sarcopenia and non-sarcopenia group according to the diagnostic criteria of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS). Impacting factors of sarcopenia and the correlation between muscle mass and physical performance in elderly patients with gastrointestinal tumors were analyzed.Results:The overall prevalence rate of sarcopenia in elderly patients with gastrointestinal tumors was 28.3% (34/120) and it was 28.9% (22/76) and 27.3% (12/44) in males and females respectively. There were statistically significant differences in age, tumor stage, nutritional risk, body mass index, calf circumference, L3 SMI, grip strength/muscle strength, gait speed and SPPB score between patients with and without sarcopenia (P<0.05). Muscle strength/grip strength, L3 SMI and gait speed were closely correlated with the occurrence of sarcopenia in elderly patients with gastrointestinal tumors (P<0.05). The L3 SMI was positively correlated with physical performance as assessed with SPPB in both groups.Conclusions:Sarcopenia is a common complication in elderly patients with gastrointestinal tumors with multiple influencing factors. Timely nutritional intervention and exercise intervention should be incorporated into the treatment of elderly gastrointestinal tumor patients with sarcopenia in order to improve nutrition status.