Serum protein status according to age and disease in hospitaized elderly

The diseased elderly, in particular those with a chronic disease, experience a protein-energy malnutrition. This study assessed the serum protein (total proteins, albumin, prealbumin, transferrin, and RBP) status of 668 hospitalized patients aged 70 or more, at their admission to hospital, in refere...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 1998, Vol.18 (10), p.1677-1689
Main Authors: Belbraouet, S, Tebi, A, Chau, N, Toto, A, Debry, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
age differences
binding proteins
blood protein
elderly
gender differences
Health and Pathology
hospitals
men
nutritional status
prealbumin
protein deficiencies
serum albumin
transferrin
vitamin A
women
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Summary:The diseased elderly, in particular those with a chronic disease, experience a protein-energy malnutrition. This study assessed the serum protein (total proteins, albumin, prealbumin, transferrin, and RBP) status of 668 hospitalized patients aged 70 or more, at their admission to hospital, in reference to 104 healthy elderly of the same age and from the same region. Reduced values were found for all the indices studied. The differences between the two samples were marked for prealbumin (about 30% on average), noticeable for albumin, transferrin, and RBP (approximately 20%), and moderate for totals proteins (about 10%). Total proteins, albumin, and prealbumin were negatively linked with age. Many people had a deficiency in prealbumin (57.9%), total proteins (57.0%), transferrin (48.9%), albumin (45.4%), and in RBP (37.4%). An odds ratio of about 2 was found for the patients aged 80 or more for all indices in reference to the 70-74 year age group. The differences between patient groups with various diseases were markedly smaller than those between all the patients and the healthy people for all indices. We concluded that the diseased elderly had reduced serum proteins. It would be a benefit to assess the nutritional status and to check up the daily food intake of patients in parallel to medical treatments.
ISSN:0271-5317
1879-0739