Cachexia criteria in chronic illness associated with acute weight loss in patients with stroke

Weight loss after a stroke is associated with poor outcomes. However, the causes of weight loss in the acute phase of a stroke are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between acute weight changes and cachexia criteria in patients with an acute stroke.

In this prospective-cohort study, we assessed patients' body weight change during hospitalization, and investigated the five cachexia criteria (muscle strength, fatigue, anorexia, skeletal muscle mass, and abnormal biochemistry) at time of discharge in patients with an acute stroke. A patient was defined as being cachectic if ≥3 cachexia criteria were met. A multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between weight changes and cachexia criteria.

A total of 155 patients with an acute stroke were enrolled in this study, and 30 patients (19%) were found to have weight loss (≥5% weight loss). A univariate regression analysis found that the cachexia criteria were significantly associated with weight changes (β = -0.338; P < 0.001). The multivariate analyses after adjusting for energy intake, age, sex, body mass index at time of admission, National Institutes of Health stroke scale score, inflammatory disease, length of hospital stay, length of bed rest, and swallowing function showed that the cachexia criteria were significantly associated with weight changes (β = -0.154; P = 0.043).

The cachexia criteria were independently associated with acute weight loss in patients with a stroke.