Malnutrition-sarcopenia syndrome predicts mortality in hospitalized older patients

Abstract

A new term, malnutrition-sarcopenia syndrome (MSS), was recently coined to describe the clinical presentation of both malnutrition and sarcopenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between MSS and long-term mortality in older inpatients. We conducted a prospective study in acute geriatric wards of two local hospitals in China. Muscle mass and malnutrition were estimated by anthropometric measures and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Of the 453 participants, 14 (3.1%) had sarcopenia with normal nutrition, 139 (30.7%) had malnutrition risk without sarcopenia, 48 (10.6%) had malnutrition risk with sarcopenia, 25 (5.5%) had malnutrition without sarcopenia, and 22 (4.9%) had MSS at baseline. Compared with non-sarcopenic subjects with normal nutrition, subjects with MSS and subjects with malnutrition risk and sarcopenia were more than four times more likely to die (hazard ratio [HR], 4.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.09–10.97; and HR, 4.25; 95% CI, 2.22–8.12, respectively); non-sarcopenic subjects with malnutrition risk were more than two times more likely to die (HR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.32–4.39). In conclusion, MSS may serve as a prognostic factor in the management of hospitalized older patients.

The mortality determinants of sarcopenia and comorbidities in hospitalized geriatric patients

“…The 'Low SPPB-scores' group have a fifty percent higher risk compared to the 'High SPPB-scores' group. These data of hospitalized geriatric patients confirm the results of other studies in different populations 4,10,13,15,[21][22][23] . Figure 1 gives an overview of the Kaplan Meier curves of all these significant class variables.…”

Risk of Malnutrition Evaluated by Mini Nutritional Assessment and Sarcopenia in Noninstitutionalized Elderly People

“…In addition, among male residents in a nursing home, MNA scores were significantly lower in residents having low compared with having normal skeletal muscle mass (17.1 ± 3.4 vs 19.6 ± 2.5; P = .005) . More importantly, in a prospective study, subjects with malnutrition risk and sarcopenia have a risk for mortality 4 times higher than subjects without sarcopenia with normal nutrition . Therefore, Vandewoude et al recently indicated the MSS to depict the clinical scenario characterized by both malnutrition and sarcopenia.…”

“…As discussed earlier, malnutrition and sarcopenia are conditions frequently found in older adults that lead to negative outcomes including increased morbidity and mortality and increased healthcare costs and rehospitalizations . Usually, these conditions have been separately screened, but rarely are both conditions simultaneously assessed .…”

Factors associated with sarcopenia and undernutrition in older adults

“…8 This syndrome was recently pointed out as a prognostic indicator for long-term mortality in hospitalised older patients. 9 Sarcopenia and undernutrition are both associated with higher care costs 10,11 and several adverse health outcomes, namely poor quality of life, 12,13 prolonged length of stay in hospital 11,14,15 and mortality. 11,16,17 Routine undernutrition identification is increasing in the clinical practice, but sarcopenia remains poorly identified.…”