Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020;24(7):696-698.
doi: 10.1007/s12603-020-1400-x.

Nutritional Considerations in Frail Older Patients with COVID-19

D Azzolino  1 , E Saporiti, M Proietti, M Cesari
Affiliations

Nutritional Considerations in Frail Older Patients with COVID-19

D Azzolino et al. J Nutr Health Aging. 2020.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is posing an unprecedented challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. Older adults, which frequently present multiple chronic comorbidities, are more susceptible to COVID-19 and experience more likely negative outcomes, in terms of disease severity and mortality. However, chronological age per se may not entirely explain the dramatic scenario described among the frailest and oldest persons. Comorbidities and functional status may indeed play a relevant role. Patients at high risk of adverse clinical outcomes in COVID-19 infection are the same at risk of malnutrition, namely older adults and multimorbid individuals. In fact, COVID-19 can negatively impact on nutritional status, both in patients admitted to the hospital with the most severe manifestations of the infection, as well as in those who experience milder/asymptomatic forms of the disease. Despite being quite difficult in these emergency circumstances, nutritional status needs to be assessed in all COVID-19 patients upon admission and during hospital stay. Early nutritional support should be guaranteed in order to improve several malnutrition-related adverse outcomes. The evaluation of the nutritional status is today even more crucial than in normal times given the delicate status of older patients with COVID-19.

Keywords: Aging; SARS - CoV-2; inflammation; malnutrition; nutrition; sarcopenia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No conflict of interest to declare

References

    1. Huang C, Wang Y, Li X, Ren L, Zhao J, Hu Y, et al. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. The Lancet. 2020;395(10223):497–506. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30183-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. AlGhatrif M, Cingolani O, Lakatta EG. The Dilemma of Coronavirus Disease 2019, Aging, and Cardiovascular Disease: Insights From Cardiovascular Aging Science. JAMA Cardiol [Internet]. 2020 Apr 3 [cited 2020 Apr 17]; Available from: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/fullarticle/2764300 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu K, Chen Y, Lin R, Han K. Clinical features of COVID-19 in elderly patients: A comparison with young and middle-aged patients. J Infect. 2020 Mar 27 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wan S, Xiang Y, Fang W, Zheng Y, Li B, Hu Y, et al. Clinical features and treatment of COVID-19 patients in northeast Chongqing. Journal of Medical Virology [Internet]. [cited 2020 Apr 17];n/a(n/a). Available from: 10.1002/jmv.25783 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Norman RE, Stall NM, Sinha SK. Typically Atypical: COVID-19 Presenting as a Fall in an Older Adult. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2020 Apr 28 - PMC - PubMed