<p>Assessment of the relationship between frailty syndrome and the nutritional status of older patients</p>

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between frailty syndrome and the nutritional status of older patients. Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 120 patients hospitalized at the Geriatric Clinic between January 2017 and May 2017. The research tools were the Frailty Instrument of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-FI), including relevant anthropometric measurements and muscle strength measurement, and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). All the calculations were performed using the Statistica 10.0 program. The p -values lower than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the participants was 71 years (SD=9.03). Most participants were from urban areas. More than half of the participants (53.3%) were women. Based on the SHARE-FI, the frailty syndrome was found in 33.3% of the participants. The mean value in the MNA scale was 24.4 points (SD=3.4). The frailty syndrome was significantly correlated to gender ( p <0.025), financial status ( p =0.036) and MNA ( p <0.01) score. A statistically significant difference was observed between gender ( p =0.026), financial status ( p =0.016), place of living ( p =0.046) and MNA score. Conclusion: This study confirmed significant correlations between the frailty syndrome and the nutritional status of older adults. In terms of prevention and clinical application, it seems important to control the nutritional status of older people and the frailty syndrome. The above-mentioned scales should be used to evaluate patients, analyze the risk and plan the intervention for that group of patients.

Frailty prevalence and related factors in older adults from southern Brazil: A cross-sectional observational study

“…This result suggests that decline in muscle strength would be a common factor in frailty, but only functional mobility was a predictive factor in frail older people. This can be explained by the complexity associated with the movements of standing up, walking, turning back, and sitting down (32,33).…”

Frailty of the elderly in three Family Health Units of Paraguay in 2019

“…Es sabido que los factores que aumentan la resistencia a la fragilidad son: tener buena reserva cognitiva, ausencia de diabetes, elevado estatus socioeconómico. No obstante, en esta investigación estos factores no se relacionaron significativamente a la ausencia de fragilidad, tal vez por el tamaño ( 35,36) de muestra .…”

“…Llamó la atención la presencia de tres sujetos con desnutrición, todos ellos con fragilidad. Es (36,37) reconocido el efecto del estado nutricional en la resiliencia de las personas añosas . Este es un aspecto sobre el cual los profesionales de la salud de Atención Primaria podrían actuar, así como a (38)(39)(40) nivel del sedentarismo, como el detectado en esta muestra .…”

Evaluation of Malnutrition Among Elderly People Above 75 Years of Age

“…This study is also the first experience in personalized nutritional counseling managed by general practitioners according to the Nutrition Service to improve the nutritional status of their patients. In addition to assessing malnutrition, surveillance provided information to maintain the nutritional status of older people with an adequate MNA result, and dietary indications for people with different levels of malnutrition depending on weight and ability of chewing [20] . The interaction and coordination between GPs, nutrition and hygiene, and public health services guarantees a positive multidisciplinary approach that enables the creation of a medical care path with personalized nutrition advice that can improve nutritional status within two months and relevant biochemical parameters in the elderly living in the community [21] .…”