We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Sarcopenia and length of hospital stay.
- Authors
Sousa, A S; Guerra, R S; Fonseca, I; Pichel, F; Amaral, T F
- Abstract
<bold>Background/objectives: </bold>We aimed to quantify the association of sarcopenia with length of hospital stay (LOS) and to identify factors associated with sarcopenia among hospitalized patients.<bold>Subjects/methods: </bold>A total of 655 patients composed the study sample. A longitudinal study was conducted in a University Hospital. Sarcopenia was defined, according to European Consensus criteria, as low muscle mass (bioelectrical impedance analysis) and low muscle function (handgrip strength). Logistic regression, Kaplan-Meier and Cox adjusted proportional hazards methods were used. LOS was determined from the date of hospital admission and discharge home (event of interest).<bold>Results: </bold>Participants were aged 18 to 90 years (24.3% sarcopenic). Factors associated with sarcopenia were male gender, age ⩾65 years, moderate or severe dependence, undernutrition and being admitted to a medical ward. Sarcopenic patients presented a lower probability of being discharged home (hazard ratio (HR), 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.71, 0.58-0.86). However, after stratifying for age groups, this effect was visible only in patients aged <65 years (HR, 95% CI= 0.66, 0.51-0.86). Moreover, sarcopenic overweight or obese patients presented a higher probability of being discharged home (HR, 95% CI=0.78, 0.61-0.99) than nonoverweight sarcopenic patients (HR, 95% CI=0.63, 0.48-0.83).<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Being male, age ⩾65 years, presenting dependence, being undernourished and admitted to a medical ward were factors associated with sarcopenia among hospitalized adult patients. Sarcopenia is independently associated with longer LOS, although this association is stronger for patients aged <65 years. Moreover, sarcopenic overweight was associated with a higher probability of discharge home than nonoverweight sarcopenia.
- Subjects
OBESITY complications; MALNUTRITION; AGE distribution; LENGTH of stay in hospitals; LONGITUDINAL method; SEX distribution; LOGISTIC regression analysis; DISCHARGE planning; SARCOPENIA; PROPORTIONAL hazards models; KAPLAN-Meier estimator; DISEASE complications
- Publication
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016, Vol 70, Issue 5, p595
- ISSN
0954-3007
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1038/ejcn.2015.207