Sarcopenia in patients with hip fracture: A multicenter cross-sectional study

• Published in: PloS one 2017-09, Vol.12 (9), p.e0184780-e0184780
• Main Authors: Steihaug, Ole Martin, Gjesdal, Clara Gram, Bogen, Bård, Kristoffersen, Målfrid Holen, Lien, Gunhild, Ranhoff, Anette Hylen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Albumin; Anthropometry; Arm; Arm circumference; Biology and Life Sciences; Body Composition; Body mass; Body measurements; Body Weight; Chronology; Classification; Comorbidity; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; Drugs; Feasibility studies; Female; Fractures; Grip strength; Hip; Hip Fractures - complications; Hip joint; Humans; Male; Malnutrition; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mobility; Nutrition; Nutritional Status; Odds Ratio; Older people; Patients; Physical sciences; Prevalence; Regression Analysis; Risk Factors; Sarcopenia; Sarcopenia - complications; Sarcopenia - diagnosis; Sarcopenia - epidemiology; Serum albumin; Vitamin D
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184780

Sarcopenia is prevalent in older persons and is a risk factor for falls, fractures, and mortality. The aim of this study was to determine a) the feasibility of determining sarcopenia in patients with acute hip fracture, b) the prevalence of sarcopenia and c) associations of sarcopenia with nutritional status and comorbidities. A multicenter cross-sectional study on sarcopenia in male and female patients with acute hip fracture. Participants were previously ambulatory and living in the community. Sarcopenia was assessed postoperatively with muscle mass estimated by anthropometry using triceps skinfold, arm circumference, height, weight and sex. Grip strength was measured by Jamar dynamometer and pre-fracture mobility was by self-report using the New Mobility Score. Out of 282 patients, 202 were assessed for sarcopenia of whom 74 (37%) were diagnosed as sarcopenic. Sarcopenia was associated with age, odds ratio (OR) 1.4 per 5 years, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.1, 1.8], ASA Physical Status Classification System score, OR 2.3 per point, 95% CI [1.3, 4.3] and number of medications at discharge, OR 1.2 per medication, 95% CI [1.0, 1.3] and inversely associated with BMI, OR 0.8, 95% CI [0.7, 0.9] and serum albumin, OR 0.9, 95% CI [0.8,1.0]. Thirty-seven percent of assessed subjects were diagnosed with sarcopenia. Our data demonstrates that the prevalence of sarcopenia is associated with older age, malnutrition and comorbidities. Determining sarcopenia at the bedside was feasible in postoperative hip fracture patients by using grip strength, estimation of muscle mass by anthropometry and self-reported mobility.