Evaluation of nutritional status and skin condition among elderly residents in a long-term care hospital

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition, health & aging health & aging, 2012, Vol.16 (1), p.107-111
• Main Authors: Iizaka, S., Jiao, L., Sugama, J., Minematsu, T., Oba, M., Matsuo, J., Tabata, K., Sugiyama, T., Sanada, Hiromi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Area Under Curve; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Color; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geriatric Assessment; Geriatrics/Gerontology; Health sciences; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Humans; Japan; JNHA: Geriatric Science; Leg; Long term health care; Male; Malnutrition; Medical research; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic diseases; Neurosciences; Nursing; Nutrition; Nutrition Assessment; Nutritional Status; Older people; Other nutritional diseases (malnutrition, nutritional and vitamin deficiencies...); Primary Care Medicine; Proteins; Quality of Life Research; ROC Curve; Skin; Skin care; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Weight Loss; Wound healing
• ISSN: 1279-7707; 1760-4788
• DOI: 10.1007/s12603-010-0292-6

Objective The availability of nutritional screening tools for older adults is limited, depending on their physical characteristics or the setting. We investigated the relationships between various nutritional indicators and skin conditions as possible screening indicators. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting A long-term care hospital in Japan. Participants 90 elderly residents who were aged ≥65 years old. Measurements The nutritional status of the residents was assessed by body mass index (BMI), involuntary weight loss, arm muscle area, and serum albumin and prealbumin levels. Leg skin condition was evaluated by: 1) functional factors including pH, hydration and transepidermal water loss; 2) skin color including L* , a* , b* and individual typology angle (ITA o ) using a tristimulus colorimetric instrument; and 3) skin morphology. Repeated measures analysis of variance was employed, adjusted for demographic characteristics and room temperature, with measurement site as the repeated variable. Results Among the skin indicators, b* was significantly correlated with BMI (p=0.018), and weight loss over the previous month (p=0.042) and 6 months (p=0.002). Additionally, ITA o was associated with weight loss over 1 month (p=0.013). Both b* and ITA o showed the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.64 to 0.80 for weight loss >2% over 1 month. Conclusions Residents with poorer nutritional status had yellower and darker skin color.