SCREENING FOR FRAILTY, NUTRITION AND MUSCLE STRENGTH OF HOSPITALIZED ELDERLY

• Published in: Revista brasileira de fisioterapia (São Carlos (São Paulo, Brazil)) Brazil)), 2024-04, Vol.28, p.100624, Article 100624
• Main Authors: Camargo, Ana Luiza de Arruda, Lima, Fernanda dos Santos, de Oliveira, Marcelo Olímpio, da Silva, Elaine Gomes, Degiovani, Patrícia Vigano Contri, Garcia-Araujo, Adriana Sanches
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Elderly; Frailty; Hospitalization
• ISSN: 1413-3555; 1809-9246
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bjpt.2024.100624

The increase in life expectancy in recent years has brought a scenario of multimorbidities and the presence of geriatric syndromes, such as frailty, making the elderly vulnerable to decompensation and hospitalizations. In addition, nutritional status and muscle strength have a significant association with frailty, so their characterization in the hospitalized elderly population is extremely relevant since such conditions are accompanied by adverse clinical outcomes, increasing the length of hospitalization and mortality. From this, it is possible to program multidisciplinary strategies and outline the best individualized intervention for these patients, aiming at an early discharge and higher quality of life. To evaluate the presence of frailty, nutritional status, and muscle strength of hospitalized elderly. This is a prospective, observational, and cross-sectional study in which patients hospitalized in the ward of a University Hospital over 60 years of age were evaluated. Data were collected from medical records and characterization of the sample. Patients were assessed for frailty screening (Fried criteria), nutritional assessment through mini nutritional assessment (MAN) and handgrip strength. Partial data from 51 study participants were analyzed. Regarding frailty, according to Fried's criteria, 90.2% of the patients were classified as frail, 9.8% as pre-frail, and none as non-frail. The MAN scores reveal that, in relation to nutritional status, 19.6% are at risk of malnutrition and 43.13% are malnourished. Regarding muscle strength, 66.66% of men and 76.9% of women had muscle weakness, with the mean of men of 27.6 ±11.43 (76.66% of predicted) and of women of 19.3 ±5.76 (83.91% of predicted). Hospitalized elderly are mostly fragile and have nutrition deficits and peripheral muscle weakness. Faced with the presence of frailty, nutritional deficit, and muscle weakness, future intervention studies deserve attention to minimize damage to the independence and functionality of the elderly.