The correlation between nutrition and frailty and the receiver operating characteristic curve of different nutritional indexes for frailty

Abstract

Abstract Background Frailty is a kind of geriatric syndrome, which is very common in the elderly. Patients with malnutrition are at higher risk of frailty. This study explored the correlation between nutrition and frailty and compared the receiver operating characteristic curve of different nutritional indexes for frailty. Methods This cross-sectional study included 179 inpatients aged ≥65 years old. Frailty was measured using Fried Frailty Phenotype, handgrip strength was measured using JAMAR@Plus and the 4.57 m usual gait speed was measured using a stopwatch. Comprehensive nutritional assessment refers to the application of Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) to assess the nutritional status of patients. Results Compared with the non-frailty group, the upper arm circumference, calf circumference, hemoglobin, albumin, prealbumin, cholesterol and low density lipoprotein in the frailty group were lower (P 0.65), AUC was 0.718, 0.693 and 0.743, respectively. Conclusions Our results suggest that malnutrition is closely related to frailty. As for single nutritional indexes, albumin, prealbumin and hemoglobin were found to be associated with frailty. Further cohort studies are needed to verify their ability to screen for frailty.

Keywords

• Frailty
• Nutrition
• Inpatients