Combined measurement of serum albumin and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol strongly predicts mortality in frail older nursing-home residents.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that a combined measurement of albumin and HDL-C might predict total mortality in institutionalized frail older residents.


METHODS
Participants were 344 older subjects (272 F, 72 M), living in the "Istituto Riposo Anziani" (I.R.A.), a nursing-home located in Padova, North-east Italy. Functional status, comorbidity, and clinical chemistry parameters were evaluated at entry. All-cause mortality was evaluated after 2 and 4 years. The sample was divided into 4 groups by using the 50 degrees percentile of albumin and HDL-C as cut-off value. The mortality odds ratio (OR) was estimated by multivariate logistic regression analysis.


RESULTS
Total mortality was 36.8% after 2 years and 51.8% after four years. A trend toward an increase in mortality from group 1 to 4 was observed (p for trend: 0.01). The OR for 2 and 4 years mortality was 3.83 (95% CI 1.86-7.58) and 2.66 (95% CI 1.37-5.17), respectively, in group 4 compared with group 1, after adjustment for age, gender, number of chronic diseases, functional status, BMI, diabetes, dementia, stroke, CHD, CHF, hypertension, depression, COPD, and total cholesterol levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Among frail older nursing-home residents, simple measurement of serum albumin and HDL-C levels may be useful in identifying varying degrees of frailty.
Zuliani
Giovanni
G
Section of Internal Medicine, Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Ferrara, Italy. gzuliani@hotmail.com
Volpatol
Stefano
S
Romagnoni
Franco
F
Soattin
Lucia
L
Bollini
Cristina
C
Leoci
Vincenzo
V
Fellin
Renato
R
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009026:Mortality; D009735:Nursing Homes; D012307:Risk Factors; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis*
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D012709:Serum Albumin