Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Epidemiology

Association between hospitalization-related outcomes, dynapenia and body mass index: The Glisten Study

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

To compare the prognostic value of dynapenia, as evaluated by handgrip, and body mass index (BMI) on length of stay (LOS), days of bed rest, and other hospitalization-related outcomes in a population of older adults admitted to 12 italian acute care divisions.

Methods

Data on age, weight, BMI, comorbidities, ADL, physical activity level, muscle strength, were recorded at hospital admission. LOS, days of bed rest, intrahospital falls, and discharge destination were also recorded during the hospitalization. Subjects with BMI <18.5 kg/m2 were classified as underweight, subjects with BMI 18.5–24.9 as normal weight, subjects with BMI ≥25 as overweight-obese.

Results

A total of 634 patients, mean age 80.8 ± 6.7 years and 49.4% women, were included in the analysis. Overall dynapenic subjects (D) showed a longer period of LOS and bed rest compared with non-dynapenic (ND). When the study population was divided according to BMI categories, underweight (UW), normal weight (NW), and overweight-obese (OW-OB), no significant differences were observed in hospital LOS and days of bed rest. When analysis of covariance was used to determine the difference of LOS across handgrip/BMI groups, D/OW-OB and D/UW subjects showed significantly longer LOS (11.32 and 10.96 days, both p 0.05) compared to ND/NW subjects (7.69 days), even when controlling for age, gender, baseline ADL, cause of hospitalization and comorbidity. After controlling for the same confounding factors, D/OW-OB, D/NW and D/UW subjects showed significantly longer bed rest (4.7, 4.56, and 4.05 days, respectively, all p 0.05, but D/OW-OB p 0.01) compared to ND/NW subjects (1.59 days).

Conclusion

In our study population, LOS is longer in D/UW and D/OW-OB compared to ND/NW subjects and days of bed rest are mainly influenced by dynapenia, and not by BMI class.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hoenig HM, Rubinstein LZ. Hospital associated deconditioning and dysfunction. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1991;39:220–2.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Fortinsky RH, Covinsky KE, Palmer RM, Landefeld CS. Effects of functional status changes before and during hospitalization on nursing home admission in older adults. J Gerontol Med Sci. 1999;54:M521–M526.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Stenholm S, Alley D, Bandinelli S, Griswold ME, Koskinen S, Rantanen T, et al. The effect of obesity combined with low muscle strength on decline in mobility in older persons: results from the InCHIANTI Study. Int J Obes. 2009;33:635–44.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Rossi AP, Fantin F, Caliari C, Zoico E, Mazzali G, Zanardo M, et al. Dynapenic abdominal obesity as predictor of mortality and disability worsening in older adults: a 10-year prospective study. Clin Nutr. 2016;35:199–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Scott D, Sanders KM, Aitken D, Hayes A, Ebeling PR, Jones G. Sarcopenic Obesity and Dynapenic Obesity: 5-year associations with falls risk in middle-aged and older adults. Obesity. 2014;22:1568–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Rossi AP, Bianchi L, Volpato S, Bandinelli S, Guralnik J, Zamboni M, et al. Dynapenic abdominal obesity as a predictor of worsening disability, hospitalization, and mortality in older adults: results, from the InCHIANTI Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2017;72:1098–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Akinyemiju T, Meng Q, Vin-Raviv N. Association between body mass index and in-hospital outcomes, Analysis of the nationwide inpatient database. Medicine. 2016;95:e4189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bergouignan A, Rudwill F, Simon C, Blanc S. Physical inactivity as the culprit of metabolic inflexibility: evidence from bed-rest studies. J Appl Physiol. 2011;111:1201–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Kerr A, Syddall H, Cooper C, Turner GF, Briggs RS, Sayer AA. Does admission grip strength predict length of stay in hospidlised older patient?. Age Aging. 2006;35:82–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Philbin E, McCullough P, Dec G, DiSalvo TG. Length of stay and procedure utilization are the major determinants of hospital charges for heart failure. Clin Cardiol. 2001;24:56–62.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Zhu H, Newcommon N, Cooper M, Green TL, Seal B, Klein G. Impact of a stroke unit on length of hospital stay and in-hospital case fatality. Stroke. 2009;40:18–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bianchi L, Abete P, Bellelli G, Bo M, Cherubini A, Corica F, et al. Prevalence and clinical correlates of sarcopenia, identified according to the EWGSOP definition and diagnostic algorithm, in hospitalized older people: The Glisten Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2017;72:1575–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Crutz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, Boirie Y, Cederholm T, Landi F, et al. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Age Aging. 2010;39:412–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Volpato S, Bianchi L, Cherubini A, Landi F, Maggio M, Savino E, et al. Prevalence and clinical correlates of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older people: application of the EWGSOP definition and diagnostic algorithm. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2014;69:438–46.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Fried LP, Tangen CM, Walston J, Newman AB, Hirsch C, Gottdiener J, et al. Frailty in older adults: evidence for a phenotype. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001;56:M1146–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. World Health Organization. Physical Status: The Use and Interpretation of Anthropometry: Report of a WHO Expert Committee.. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 1995. WHO Technical Report Series

    Google Scholar 

  17. Rantanen T, Guralnik JM, Foley D, Masaki K, Leveille S, Curb JD, et al. Midlife hand grip strength as a predictor of old age disability. JAMA. 1999;281:558–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Rantanen T, Harris T, Leveille SGK, Visser M, Foley D, Masaki K, et al. Muscle strength and body mass index as long-term predictors of mortality in initially healthy men. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2000;55:M168–73.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Laukkanen P, Heikkinen E, Kauppinen M. Muscle strength and mobility as predictors of survival in 75–84-year-old people. Age Ageing. 1995;24:468–73.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Matos LC, Tavares MM, Amaral TF. Handgrip strength as a hospital admission nutritional risk screening method. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007;61:1128–35.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Roberts HC, Syddall HE, Cooper C, Aihie Sayer A. Is grip strength associated with length of stay in hospitalized older patients admitted for rehabilitation? Findings from the Southampton grip strength study. Age Ageing. 2012;41:641–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Pichard C, Kyle UG, Morabia A, Perrier A, Vermeulen B, Unger P. Nutritional assessment: lean body mass depletion at hospital admission is associated with increased length of stay. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;79:613–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Kyle UG, Pirlich M, Lochs H, Schuetz T, Pichard C. increased length of stay in underweight and overweight patients at hospital admission: controlled population study. Clin Nutr. 2005;24:133–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Delmonico MJ, Harris TB, Visser M, Park SW, Conroy MB, Velasquez-Mieyer P, et al. Longitudinal study of muscle strength, quality and adipose tissue infiltration. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;90:1579–85.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Clark BC, Fernhall B, Ploutz-Snyder LL. Adaptation in humans neuromuscular function following prolonged underweighting: I Skeletal muscle contractile properties and applied ischemia efficacy. J Appl Physiol. 2006;101:256–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Gomes F, Emery PW, Weekes CE. Risk of Malnutrition is an indipendent predictor of mortality, length of hospital stay, and hospitalization costs in stroke patientes. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2016;25:799–806.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Rossi AP, Zanandrea V, Zoico E, Zanardo M, Caliari C, Confente S, et al. Inflammation and nutritional status as predictors of physical performance and strength loss during hospitalization. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2016;70:1439–42.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. McWhirter JP, Pennington CR. Incidence and recognition of malnutrition in hospital. Br Med J. 1994;308:945–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Hauck K, Akinyemiju T, Meng O, Vin-Ravi N. Association between body mass index and in-hospital outcomes Analysis of the nationwide inpatient database. Medicine. 2016;95:1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Manini TM, Visser M, Won-Park S, Patel KV, Strotmeyer ES, Chen H, et al. Knee extension strength cutpoints for maintaining mobility. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;55:451–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Visser M, Goodpaster BH, Kritchevsky SB, Newman AB, Nevitt M, Rubin SM, et al. Muscle mass, muscle strength, and muscle fat infiltration as predictors of incident mobility limitations in well-functioning older persons. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2005;60:324–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Padwal RS, Wang K, Sharma AM, Dyer D. The impact of severe obesity on post acute rehabilitation efficiency, length of stay, and hospital costs. J Obes. 2012;2012:972365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Armstrong R, Wang H, Dessureault L. Effect of body mass index on inpatient rehabilitation outcomes after stroke. 2013 Canadian stroke congress. Stroke. 2013;44:e174–e228.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The manuscript has been extensively revised by a medical writer and native English speaker, Prof Mark J Newman.

Glisten Study Group Investigators

Gloria Brombo, Elisa Maietti, Beatrice Ortolani, Elisabetta Savino, Valeria Buttò, Alberto Fisichella, Elisa Carrarini, Mauro Zamboni, Maria Laura Di Meo, Francesco Orso, Flavia Sacco, Alessandra Bonfanti, Anna Paola Cerri, Marco Motta, Francesca Pittella, Sergio Fusco, Valeria Prestipino Giarritta, Luca Soraci, Luca Agosta, Lorenzo Marchese, Claudia Basile, Ilaria Fava, Paolo Salaris, Olga Catte, Maura Orru, Elena Ortolani, Anna Maria Martone, Sara Salini, Barbara Carrieri, Giuseppina dell’Aquila

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Consortia

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea P Rossi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Members of the GLISTEN study group investigators appear above the reference.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rossi, A.P., Fantin, F., Abete, P. et al. Association between hospitalization-related outcomes, dynapenia and body mass index: The Glisten Study. Eur J Clin Nutr 73, 743–750 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0184-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0184-0

Search

Quick links