title: Creatinine arm index as alternative for creatinine height index.
abstract: Nutritional assessment of elderly people is limited due to a lack of age-corrected standards. The objective of this study was to develop a new, more age-independent index for nutritional assessment by correcting the creatinine height index (CHI) for the age-induced changes in its variables. This might improve the differentiation between physiological reduction in muscle mass in elderly people and the changes induced by malnutrition. Seventy-four elderly and 100 young healthy volunteers were compared by anthropometric and biochemical-assessment variables. From the high correlation between total arm length and body length (r = 0.86; P less than 0.001) and the use of an alternative formula to calculate ideal body weight (IBW) from height and wrist circumference, a relatively age-independent estimate of IBW was determined. Creatinine arm index, as an adapted index of CHI, is proposed based on this age-independent IBW estimation and a specific creatinine coefficient for different age groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, University of Antwerp-Uia, Belgium.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Van Hoeyweghen
authors.forename: I H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: De Leeuw
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Vandewoude
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D000886:Anthropometry; D001132:Arm / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000175:diagnosis; D012885:Skinfold Thickness
chemical_list: D003404:Creatinine