The associations of malnutrition, sarcopenia and disability in older hospitalized patients / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the associations of malnutrition, sarcopenia and disability in older hospitalized patients.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on 180 patients who were admitted to the department of geriatrics of our hospital from November 2015 to September 2020 and completed 1-year follow-up.Malnutrition and sarcopenia were diagnosed as the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition(GLIM)criteria and the 2019 sarcopenia criteria issued by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia(AWGS2019).Disability was defined as a score of less than or equal to 95 on the Barthel Index(BI).At the end of the 1-year follow-up, a decrease of ≥5 points in the total BI score from baseline was defined as aggravation of the disability.Multivariate Logistic regression models were used to analyze the effects of malnutrition and sarcopenia on the occurrence and aggravation of the disability.Results:Among the 180 elderly patients, 27.2%(49/180)met the diagnosis of malnutrition and 39.4%(71/180)of sarcopenia, and 22.2%(40/180)of malnutrition and sarcopenia overlapped.The incidence of disability was 36.7%(66/180)at baseline and the incidence of an aggravation of disability was 31.7%(57/180)at 1-year follow-up.After adjustment for confounding factors, multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that malnutrition( OR=3.70, 95% CI=1.27-10.80, P=0.017)and sarcopenia( OR=2.93, 95% CI=1.12-7.64, P=0.028)were risk factors for disability in elderly patients, and sarcopenia was a risk factor for aggravation of disability in elderly patients after a 1-year follow-up( OR=3.99, 95% CI=1.47-10.83, P=0.007). Conclusions:Malnutrition and sarcopenia are closely associated with the occurrence and development of disability in older hospitalized patients.