[Loss of appetite in elderly people in the community and its relationship with functional capacity].
OBJECTIVE
The reasons of anorexia of ageing are multiple and not well-known. One of them is loss of appetite. We aimed to know the prevalence of self-reported appetite-loss in the elderly and its relationship with nutritional status, muscle strength and functional capacity.


METHODS
A population based cross-sectional study in which 236 non-institutionalized subjects over 70 years were randomly selected. Hand grip, functional capacity and nutritional status were assessed and a specific questionnaire was administered to assess appetite. Anorexia or loss of appetite was considered when subjects declared none or low usual appetite both in breakfast and lunch time.


RESULTS
A 30.0% global prevalence of anorexia was observed (37.1% in females and 17.9% in males; p = 0.001). Loss of appetite was related to higher risk of malnutrition (41% in anorexic vs 27% in non-anorexic; p = 0.039), lower muscular strength and poorer functional capacity.


CONCLUSIONS
Loss of appetite in the elderly has a high prevalence and must alert about frailty.
Serra Prat
Mateu
M
Unidad de Investigación, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, CIBER Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas, Barcelona, España. mserra@csdm.cat
Fernández
Xavier
X
Ribó
Laura
L
Palomera
Elisabet
E
Papiol
Mònica
M
Serra
Pere
P
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000855:Anorexia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001066:Appetite; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D009752:Nutritional Status