Screening for sarcopenia and its health outcomes in hospitalized elderly individuals

Introduction: This study aims to identify the risk of sarcopenia at admission and its health outcomes. Methods: This was an observational, longitudinal, and prospective study, with elderly individuals aged 60 years or older, evaluated within 72 hours after admission to a private hospital, between 2020 and 2021. We collected demographic, clinical, and nutritional data from the patients' medical records, applied the SARC-CalF questionnaire and measured the handgrip strength, skeletal muscle mass index and gait speed test. Results: There were 101 patients, of whom 60.4% (n = 61) were male, with a mean age of 74.2 ± 8.7 years. Risk of sarcopenia was identified in 22.8% (n = 23) of the patients, confirmed in 6.1% (n = 6) and considered severe in 4% (n = 4). This study found an association between the risk of sarcopenia and age, marital status, educational level, body mass index, and nutritional risk. The odds of elderly individuals presenting with risk of sarcopenia increases by 69.350-fold if the calf circumference is inadequate, by 31.417-fold if underweight and by 6.645-fold if classified as at nutritional risk. In terms of the health outcome, after 30 days, 98% of patients were discharged. Conclusion: The prevalence of risk of sarcopenia and sarcopenia was similar to that described by other authors and nutritional factors were considered strong predictors of the risk of sarcopenia, reinforcing the importance of assessing body composition in hospitalized elderly individuals.