Effects of Nutritional Supplements on Muscle Mass and Activities of Daily Living in Elderly Rehabilitation Patients with Decreased Muscle Mass: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effects of nutritional intervention with resistance training on skeletal muscle mass in elderly patients with disabilities in a convalescent rehabilitation setting.

Design: A randomized controlled trial. (UMIN Clinical Trials Registry ID: UMIN000006238).

Setting: A rehabilitation hospital.

Participants: 39 elderly patients with decreased skeletal muscle mass in an inpatient convalescence rehabilitation unit.

Interventions: A combination of resistance training plus nutritional supplementation (R/N group) or resistance training alone (R group). The training and supplementation were conducted essentially from the patient's admission to discharge (2-6 months).

Outcome measures: The patients were evaluated at the time of admission and at the end of the intervention for skeletal muscle mass (calf circumference [CC] as a primary outcome, and arm circumference [AC]), hand grip strength (HG), Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA®-SF) score, serum albumin level (Alb), body mass index (BMI), and activities of daily living (ADL) as represented by the Barthel Index (BI) score.

Results: Significant treatment effects were seen for CC, AC, BI, Alb in the R/N group compared to the R group. A mean treatment effect of 3.2 (95%CI: 2.0-4.4) was seen in CC, 1.4 (95%CI: 0.8-2.1) was seen in AC, 11.2 (95%CI: 0.5-21.8) was seen in BI, 0.3 (95%CI: 0.1-0.5) was seen in Alb.

Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that nutritional intervention added to resistance training during convalescent rehabilitation may improve skeletal muscle mass and activities of daily living.