OBJECTIVES: Sarcopenia is a common treatable geriatric condition. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of sarcopenia and its associated factors in community-dwelling elderly living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and to discuss the impact of different muscle mass, handgrip strength and gait speed cut-off values on the reported frequency of sarcopenia. METHODS: The health habits, functional capacity, and anthropometric measurements of 745 individuals aged ≥65 years from the Frailty in Brazilian Older People study were analyzed. The participants were classified into the following four groups: no sarcopenia, pre-sarcopenia, sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed. Muscle mass, handgrip strength and gait speed cut-off thresholds tailored to the sample and those proposed by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People were used to compare the prevalence rates of sarcopenia. RESULTS: Seventy-three percent of the participants were female, 61.9% were Caucasian, and the mean age was 76.6 years. The prevalence rates of sarcopenia were 10.8% and 18% using the sample-tailored and European consensus cut-off values, respectively. Sarcopenia was associated with advanced age (OR: 37.2; CI95%12.35-112.48), Caucasian race (OR: 1.89; CI 95% 1.02-3.52), single marital status (OR:6; CI95% 2.2-16.39), low income (OR:3.64; CI 95% 1.58-8.39), and the presence of comorbidities (OR:3.26; CI 95%1.28-8.3). CONCLUSION: In this study, the estimated prevalence of sarcopenia was similar to that reported in most studies after the tailored handgrip strength and gait speed cut-off values were adopted. A higher prevalence was observed when the cut-off values suggested by the European consensus were used. This indicates that the prevalence of sarcopenia must be estimated using population-specific reference values.