Nutrition and Frailty in Older Persons

Completed

• Conditions: Frailty

• Registration Number: NCT01433211
• Lead Sponsor: University of Erlangen-Nürnberg Medical School

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between nutrition and frailty in older community-living persons.

Detailed Description

Nutrition is regarded as an important etiologic factor in the development of frailty in older adults. To date the relation between nutrition and frailty is only poorly described.

Thus, it is the purpose of this study to investigate the association between different nutrition characteristics and frailty in older community-living persons.

206 volunteers aged 75 years or older were included in this cross-sectional study. Nutritional assessment included the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA), a food-frequency questionnaire and a standardised three-day dietary record. Intake of energy and nutrients was calculated using the German nutrient database BLS II.2. Dietary patterns were described by different dietary scores. Frailty was defined according to Fried et al. based on the following criteria: weight loss, exhaustion, grip strength, walking speed and physical activity. In addition several standardised tests were performed to characterise physical performance (Timed Up \& Go, repeated chair stands, balance tests).

The association between nutritional aspects and physical performance is evaluated in an explorative manner.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2009-08
• Primary Completion: 2010-09
• Study Completion: 2010-09
• Study First Submitted: 2011-09-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2011-09-11
• Study First Posted: 2011-09-13
• Status Verified: 2024-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-05-07
• Last Update Posted: 2024-05-08

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 206

Inclusion Criteria

• age of 75 years and older
• living independently at home

Exclusion Criteria

• acute illness
• cognitive impairment (Mini Mental State Examination ≥ 24 out of 30 points)

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Frailty (according to Fried et al.)	1 day	Frailty is defined as the presence of at least 3 of the following criteria: * self-reported weight loss of more than 4.5 kg in the last year; * exhaustion (self-reported feeling that everything was an effort or one could not get "going" \> 2 times a week); * low grip strength (men ≤ 29-32 kg, women ≤ 17-21 kg depending on BMI),; * low walking speed (\> 6-7 sec/ 4.57 m, depending on gender and height); * low physical activity (men \< 383 kcal/ week, women \< 270 kcal/ week)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Impaired physical performance (according to Guralnik et al.)	1 day	Impaired physical performance is definded as less than 9 points in the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB).; Three physical performance tests (balance, walking speed and chair-rise) are performed in a standardised manner and rated with 0-4 points each. SPPB is the sum score of these three test resuslts with a maximum of 12 points indicating the best physical performance.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Institute for Biomedicine of Aging, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg; 🇩🇪 Nürnberg, Germany