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. 2019 Apr 18;8(4):535.
doi: 10.3390/jcm8040535.

Impact of Sarcopenia and Frailty in a Multicenter Cohort of Polypathological Patients

Máximo Bernabeu-Wittel  1 , Álvaro González-Molina  2 , Rocío Fernández-Ojeda  3 , Jesús Díez-Manglano  4 , Fernando Salgado  5 , María Soto-Martín  6 , Marta Muniesa  7 , Manuel Ollero-Baturone  8 , Juan Gómez-Salgado  9   10
Affiliations

Impact of Sarcopenia and Frailty in a Multicenter Cohort of Polypathological Patients

Máximo Bernabeu-Wittel et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

The prevalence, relationships and outcomes of sarcopenia and frailty in polypathological patients remain unknown. We performed a multicenter prospective observational study in six hospitals in order to assess prevalence, clinical features, outcome and associated risk factors of sarcopenia and frailty in a hospital-based population of polypathological patients. The cohort was recruited by performing prevalence surveys every 14 days during the inclusion period (March 2012-June 2016). Sarcopenia was assessed by means of EWGSOP criteria and frailty by means of Fried's criteria. Skeletal muscle mass was measured by tetrapolar bioimpedanciometry. All patients were followed for 12 months. Factors associated with sarcopenia, frailty and mortality were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression, and Kaplan-Meier curves. A total of 444 patients (77.3 ± 8.4 years, 55% males) were included. Sarcopenia was present in 97 patients (21.8%), this being moderate in 54 (12.2%), and severe in 43 (9.6%); frailty was present in 278 patients (62.6%), and 140 (31.6%) were pre-frail; combined sarcopenia and frailty were present in the same patient in 80 (18%) patients. Factors independently associated to the presence of both, sarcopenia and frailty were female gender, older age, different chronic conditions, poor functional status, low body mass index, asthenia and depressive disorders, and low leucocytes and lymphocytes count. Mortality in the 12-months follow-up period was 40%. Patients with sarcopenia, frailty or both survived significantly less than those without these conditions. Sarcopenia and frailty are frequent and interrelated conditions in polypathological patients, shadowing their survival. Their early recognition and management could improve health-related outcomes in this population.

Keywords: frailty; multimorbidity; polypathological patients; sarcopenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of different aspects of frailty in a multicenter prospective cohort of polypathological patients. LPA: low physical activity.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kaplan–Meier 12-month survival curves of a multicenter cohort of polypathological patients according to the presence of sarcopenia, frailty, or both.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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