Frailty and Sarcopenia in Patients With Distal Radius Fracture: A Geriatric Perspective

Abstract

Introduction: Sarcopenia, which is described as loss of muscle mass and function, worsens daily living activities of older people. Sarcopenia is a component of frailty that causes falls and fractures in older people. The aim of this study was to evaluate sarcopenia and frailty status of older people with distal radius fracture (DRF) and compare with age- and sex-matched controls without DRF. Materials and Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study including 27 patients with DRF and 28 controls without fracture who applied to geriatric outpatient clinic. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the definition of European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2. Frailty was assessed by Fried frailty index. Comprehensive geriatric assessment was applied to all participants. Results: Median ages were 70 and 69 years (min: 65, max: 87 in both) in patients with DRF and controls, respectively. The prevalence of sarcopenia was similar between the groups ( P = .48). Prefrail–frail (nonrobust) phenotype was higher in patients with DRF ( P = .04). Nonrobust phenotype was an independent variable predicting DRF in logistic regression models. Discussion: This study showed that nonrobust phenotype was an independent variable predicting DRF. Conclusion: Assessment of frailty and detecting patients with nonrobust phenotype may help clinicians in fracture prevention strategies.