PREVALENCE OF SARCOPENIA IN ELDERLY WITH DEMENTIA INSTITUTIONALIZED: A MULTICENTER STUDY

Abstract

Objective: Determine the prevalence of sarcopenia, applying the new diagnostic criteria in a group of institutionalized elderly with dementia, analyzing the possible association between sarcopenia, degree of dementia, and nutritional status. Method: Transversal, descriptive, multicenter study with 189 subjects diagnosed with dementia in middle phase. The current criteria for sarcopenia were assessed through several tests (bioimpedance, dynamometry, and physical performance tests). Nutritional status through the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was also assessed. Parametric tests (Student t test and ANOVA) were performed to compare the significant differences between the two stages of dementia according to gender, age, presence of sarcopenia, and MNA, among other tests. Results: 74% were female and the mean age was 82.3 years. Of the participants, 57.1 % were in stage 5 and 42.9 % in stage 6 in GDS. The MNA showed that 54.6 % had risk of malnutrition, 36.2 % were normal, and 9.2% had malnutrition. Of the subjects, 68.78% have shown signs of sarcopenia. There were significant differences for sarcopenia according to the phase of dementia and between sarcopenia and malnutrition status. Conclusions: To our knowledge it is the first study of its kind in Spain under the new criteria for diagnosis of sarcopenia. There seems to be a high percentage of sarcopenia among institutionalized elderly with dementia and this in turn appears to be related to dementia status and states of malnutrition. This syndrome has a significant impact on the population, so early detection is crucial; more studies of this type are required.