Factors Predicting Sarcopenia in Thai Older Adults at a Super Tertiary Care Hospital
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Abstract
Purpose: To determine predictability of nutrition status, cognitive impairment, depression, and polypharmacy on sarcopenia in Thai older adults.
Design: Predictive correlational research.
Methods: The sample consisted of 220 older adults aged 60 years and over, both male and female, who had received geriatric medicine services at a geriatric clinic in a super tertiary care hospital in Bangkok. Data were collected using the personal and clinical data record form, the Mini Assessment Nutrition Short Form, the Thai mental state examination, and the Thai Geriatric Depression Scale. The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia criteria were implemented to measure muscle mass, physical performance, and muscle strength. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were employed to analyze data.
Main findings: Average age of the sample was 76.49 years (SD = 7.89) with 72.7% of females and 30.5% of sarcopenia. Nutritional status, cognitive impairment, depression, and polypharmacy could account for 38.3% of the variance explained in sarcopenia (Nagelkerke R2 = .38). Older adults with abnormal nutritional status (at risk or malnourished), cognitive impairment, and recent polypharmacy (use of more than five medications) were respectively 5.32, 3.26, and 7.29 times more likely to develop sarcopenia compared to their counterparts. Depression was unable to predict sarcopenia.
Conclusion and recommendations: At risk of malnutrition, cognitive impairment, polypharmacy could significantly increase older adults’ chance of having sarcopenia. The research findings can be utilized as clinical data to assess geriatric syndrome in older adults and to plan for the prevention of sarcopenia among older adults who are at risk of malnutrition, having cognitive impairment, and using more than five medications (polypharmacy).
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