title: Sarcopenia and mortality among older nursing home residents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sarcopenia has been indicated as a reliable marker of frailty and poor prognosis among the oldest individuals. At present, no data are available on sarcopenia in the nursing home population. The aim of the current study was to explore the relationship between sarcopenia and all-cause mortality in a population of elderly persons aged 70 years and older living in a nursing home in Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted among all subjects (n = 122) aged 70 years and older who lived in the teaching nursing home of Catholic University of Rome between August 1, 2010, and September 30, 2010. According to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP), sarcopenia was diagnosed in presence of low muscle mass plus either low muscle strength or low physical performance. The primary outcome measure was survival after 6 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty residents (32.8%) were indentified as affected by sarcopenia. This condition was more common in men (68%) than in women (21%). During the follow-up period, 26 (21.3%) patients died. After adjusting for age, gender, cerebrovascular diseases, osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, activity of daily living impairment, and body mass index, residents with sarcopenia were more likely to die compared with those without sarcopenia (adjusted hazard ratio 2.34; 95% confidence interval 1.04-5.24).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study suggests that among subjects living in a nursing home, sarcopenia is highly prevalent and is associated with a significantly increased risk of all-cause death. The current findings support the possibility that sarcopenia has an independent effect on survival among nursing home residents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Roma, Italy. francesco.landi@rm.unicatt.it
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liperoti
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fusco
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mastropaolo
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Quattrociocchi
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Proia
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tosato
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bernabei
authors.forename: Graziano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Onder
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015996:Survival Rate