Undernutrition at Admission Suppresses Post-Stroke Recovery of Trunk Function

Malnutrition and decreased trunk function have a negative influence on the activities of daily living (ADL) prognosis after stroke. However, the relationship between malnutrition and improvement in trunk function has not been clarified. We aimed to examine the influence of malnutrition on the improvement in trunk function in stroke patients.

This retrospective, observational study was conducted with cerebral infarction patients aged ≥ 65 years with stroke. The study period was from May 2018 to September 2020. Patients were divided into malnutrition and intact groups according to the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria. The primary outcome was the change in the Functional Assessment for Control of Trunk (FACT) score (FACT score at discharge - FACT score at admission).

A total of 183 participants (mean age, 79.7 ± 7.5 years; males, 56.3%) were included. A total of 79 (43%) and 104 (57%) patients were divided into the malnutrition and intact groups, respectively. The malnutrition group had a lower FACT score at admission (7.7 ± 7.3 vs. 11.9 ± 6.3, P < 0.001) and a lower FACT score at discharge (8.0 ± 7.7 vs. 13.3 ± 6.1, P < 0.001) than the intact group. After adjustment for the confounding factors, malnutrition was associated with a smaller change in the FACT score (coefficient = -1.871, 95% CI = -3.401 to -0.340, P = 0.017).

Malnutrition has a negative influence on the recovery of trunk function in post-stroke patients. This finding should be verified through additional prospective studies.