Inter-Relationships between Frailty, Sarcopenia, Undernutrition and Dysphagia in Older People Who Are Admitted to Acute Frailty and Medical Wards: Is There an Older Adult Quartet?
<i>Introduction</i>: With increasing age the prevalence of frailty, sarcopenia, undernutrition and dysphagia increases. These are all independent markers of outcome. This study explores the prevalence of these four and explores relationships between them. <i>Methods</i>: A co...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Geriatrics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/5/3/41 |
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| author | David Smithard Dharinee Hansjee Darrien Henry Laura Mitchell Arjun Sabaharwal Jo Salkeld Eirene Yeung Osman Younus Ian Swaine |
| author_facet | David Smithard Dharinee Hansjee Darrien Henry Laura Mitchell Arjun Sabaharwal Jo Salkeld Eirene Yeung Osman Younus Ian Swaine |
| author_sort | David Smithard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Introduction</i>: With increasing age the prevalence of frailty, sarcopenia, undernutrition and dysphagia increases. These are all independent markers of outcome. This study explores the prevalence of these four and explores relationships between them. <i>Methods</i>: A convenience sample of 122 patients admitted to acute medical and frailty wards were recruited. Each was assessed using appropriate screening tools; Clinical Frailty Score (CFS) for frailty, SARC-F for sarcopenia, Nutritional Risk Tool (NRT) for nutritional status and 4QT for dysphagia. <i>Results</i>: The mean age of the participants was 80.53 years (65–99 years), and 50.37% (68) were female. Overall, 111 of the 122 (91.0%) reported the presence of at least one of the quartet. The median CFS was 5 (1–9), with 84 patients (68.9%) having a score of ≥5 (moderate or severely frail); The median SARC-F was 5 (0–10), with 64 patients (52.5%) having a score of ≥5; The median NRT was 0 (0–8) and 33 patients (27.0%) scored ≥ 1. A total of 77 patients (63.1%) reported no difficulty with swallowing/dysphagia (4QT ≥ 1) and 29 (23.7%) had only one factor. Sixteen patients (13.1%) had all four. There was a significant correlation between nutritional status and dysphagia, but not with frailty or sarcopenia. There were significant correlations between frailty and both sarcopenia and dysphagia. <i>Conclusions</i>: In our sample of acute medical and frailty ward patients, there was a much higher prevalence than expected (91%) of either: frailty, sarcopenia, undernutrition or dysphagia. The prevalence of all four was present in 13% of patients. We suggest that frailty, sarcopenia, nutritional risk and dysphagia comprise an “Older Adult Quartet”. Further study is required to investigate the effect of the “Older Adult Quartet” on morbidity and mortality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:46:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b9e42ecd89bc4d629b1d4e5831f72379 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2308-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:46:45Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Geriatrics |
| spelling | doaj.art-b9e42ecd89bc4d629b1d4e5831f723792023-11-20T05:27:45ZengMDPI AGGeriatrics2308-34172020-06-01534110.3390/geriatrics5030041Inter-Relationships between Frailty, Sarcopenia, Undernutrition and Dysphagia in Older People Who Are Admitted to Acute Frailty and Medical Wards: Is There an Older Adult Quartet?David Smithard0Dharinee Hansjee1Darrien Henry2Laura Mitchell3Arjun Sabaharwal4Jo Salkeld5Eirene Yeung6Osman Younus7Ian Swaine8Department Geriatric Medicine, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, London SE13 6LH, UKDepartment Geriatric Medicine, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, London SE13 6LH, UKDepartment Medicine, Royal Halamshire Hospital, Sheffield S10 2JF, UKDepartment Geriatric Medicine, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, London SE13 6LH, UKDepartment Geriatric Medicine, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, London SE13 6LH, UKDepartment Medicine, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UKDepartment Acute Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UKDepartment Geriatric Medicine, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, London SE13 6LH, UKSchool of Health Science, University of Greenwich, London SE9 2UG, UK<i>Introduction</i>: With increasing age the prevalence of frailty, sarcopenia, undernutrition and dysphagia increases. These are all independent markers of outcome. This study explores the prevalence of these four and explores relationships between them. <i>Methods</i>: A convenience sample of 122 patients admitted to acute medical and frailty wards were recruited. Each was assessed using appropriate screening tools; Clinical Frailty Score (CFS) for frailty, SARC-F for sarcopenia, Nutritional Risk Tool (NRT) for nutritional status and 4QT for dysphagia. <i>Results</i>: The mean age of the participants was 80.53 years (65–99 years), and 50.37% (68) were female. Overall, 111 of the 122 (91.0%) reported the presence of at least one of the quartet. The median CFS was 5 (1–9), with 84 patients (68.9%) having a score of ≥5 (moderate or severely frail); The median SARC-F was 5 (0–10), with 64 patients (52.5%) having a score of ≥5; The median NRT was 0 (0–8) and 33 patients (27.0%) scored ≥ 1. A total of 77 patients (63.1%) reported no difficulty with swallowing/dysphagia (4QT ≥ 1) and 29 (23.7%) had only one factor. Sixteen patients (13.1%) had all four. There was a significant correlation between nutritional status and dysphagia, but not with frailty or sarcopenia. There were significant correlations between frailty and both sarcopenia and dysphagia. <i>Conclusions</i>: In our sample of acute medical and frailty ward patients, there was a much higher prevalence than expected (91%) of either: frailty, sarcopenia, undernutrition or dysphagia. The prevalence of all four was present in 13% of patients. We suggest that frailty, sarcopenia, nutritional risk and dysphagia comprise an “Older Adult Quartet”. Further study is required to investigate the effect of the “Older Adult Quartet” on morbidity and mortality.https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/5/3/41dysphagianutritionfrailtysarcopenia |
| spellingShingle | David Smithard Dharinee Hansjee Darrien Henry Laura Mitchell Arjun Sabaharwal Jo Salkeld Eirene Yeung Osman Younus Ian Swaine Inter-Relationships between Frailty, Sarcopenia, Undernutrition and Dysphagia in Older People Who Are Admitted to Acute Frailty and Medical Wards: Is There an Older Adult Quartet? Geriatrics dysphagia nutrition frailty sarcopenia |
| title | Inter-Relationships between Frailty, Sarcopenia, Undernutrition and Dysphagia in Older People Who Are Admitted to Acute Frailty and Medical Wards: Is There an Older Adult Quartet? |
| title_full | Inter-Relationships between Frailty, Sarcopenia, Undernutrition and Dysphagia in Older People Who Are Admitted to Acute Frailty and Medical Wards: Is There an Older Adult Quartet? |
| title_fullStr | Inter-Relationships between Frailty, Sarcopenia, Undernutrition and Dysphagia in Older People Who Are Admitted to Acute Frailty and Medical Wards: Is There an Older Adult Quartet? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inter-Relationships between Frailty, Sarcopenia, Undernutrition and Dysphagia in Older People Who Are Admitted to Acute Frailty and Medical Wards: Is There an Older Adult Quartet? |
| title_short | Inter-Relationships between Frailty, Sarcopenia, Undernutrition and Dysphagia in Older People Who Are Admitted to Acute Frailty and Medical Wards: Is There an Older Adult Quartet? |
| title_sort | inter relationships between frailty sarcopenia undernutrition and dysphagia in older people who are admitted to acute frailty and medical wards is there an older adult quartet |
| topic | dysphagia nutrition frailty sarcopenia |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/5/3/41 |
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