Undernutrition risk and recent hospital admission in older adults living alone or with spouse only

Chan, Helen Yue Lai; So, Winnie K.W.; Choi, K.C.; Law, Ben M. F.; Wong, Michael; Cheung, Regina K.Y.; Sit, Janet W H; Li, Francis Y.K.; Lee, Tin Yan; Fung, Elina S M; Tai, Keen Man

doi:10.1016/j.archger.2021.104351

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“…Living alone is usually accompanied with feelings of loneliness and insecurity and difficulties in daily living, all of which pose enormous challenges for older adults 4 . Evidence consistently supports that living alone is associated with increased risks of malnutrition, a declining health status, depressive symptoms, hospital readmission, and a deteriorated quality of life 5 , 6 . Despite these drawbacks, in 2012, nearly 29% of the 46 million community-dwelling older adults in the United States lived in single-person households, and more than half of the community-dwelling old persons (≥ 80 years old) were living alone 4 .…”

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Sarcopenia risk and associated factors among Chinese community-dwelling older adults living alone

Sit

Chan

et al. 2021

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Sarcopenia, defined as a progressive loss of muscle mass and reduced muscle strength and functional capacity, is common among older adults. This study aimed to assess the proportion of people at risk of sarcopenia and probable sarcopenia among Chinese community-dwelling older adults living alone and to identify the associated factors. A total of 390 older adults were included in this study. Sarcopenia and probable sarcopenia were defined according to the criteria of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, health status, health behaviours and lifestyle characteristics, nutritional status, physical activity level, and depressive symptoms were collected. The association between these characteristics and sarcopenia risk was analysed using a multivariate ordinal logistic regression. The proportion of subjects at risk of sarcopenia and probable sarcopenia was found to be 57.7% and 30%, respectively. Older age, being malnourished and being at risk of malnutrition were significantly associated with sarcopenia risk. Being educated to secondary level or above, being overweight or obese and higher physical activity level were associated with decreased sarcopenia risk. Our results showed that older adults living alone were at high risk of developing sarcopenia and probable sarcopenia. These results emphasise the urgent need to initiate aggressive screening and holistic lifestyle therapeutic intervention strategies for this high-risk population.

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