Background
Osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) is one of the most common fractures in the elderly and the number is increasing. In addition, nutritional status is associated with functional prognosis in the elderly. However, there are limited reports on the relationship between nutritional status and functional prognosis in OVCF. Furthermore, there are no reports that have examined the relationship between OVCF nutritional status and functional prognosis using geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) for nutritional assessment. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between nutritional status, activities of daily living (ADL), and fall after fracture in patients with OVCF.
Methods
The clinical information of 187 conservatively treated OVCF patients was retrospectively examined. This information included: age, sex, body mass index, total number of drugs used for treatment at admission, bone mineral density, use of drugs for osteoporosis, fracture type, comorbidity severity, nutritional status, Barthel Index (BI), and fall after OVCF. Subjects were divided into two groups according to their GNRI. Propensity score matching was used to confirm factors affecting BI and falls after OVCF.
Results
Sixty-eight patients (36.4%) presented with malnutrition at fracture. According to multiple linear regression analysis, GNRI positively affected BI gain (β = 0.283, 95% confidence interval [CI], -122.2 to -0.706, p = 0.001). Furthermore, on logistic regression analysis, fall after OVCF was associated with GNRI (odds ratio = 0.896, 95% CI, 0.832 to 0.964, p = 0.003).
Conclusions
Malnutrition in elderly OVCF patients decreases the acquisition of ADL and increases fall risk. Improvement of nutritional status during OVCF treatment may lead to improvement of ADL and prevention of falls.