Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2025

Author Spotlight: Assessing Surgical Frailty with Point-of-Care Ultrasound of Quadriceps Muscles
Published on: July 26, 2024
Body Weight and Composition Changes in Geriatric Rehabilitation Are Dependent on Sarcopenia and Malnutrition: RESORT
Jeewanadee Hettiarachchi1, Laure M G Verstraeten2, Jacob Pacifico1
1Department of Medicine and Aged Care, @AgeMelbourne, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Objectives:
Body weight and muscle mass loss following an acute hospitalization in older patients may be influenced by malnutrition and sarcopenia among other factors. This study aimed to assess the changes in body weight and composition from admission to discharge and the geriatric variables associated with the changes in geriatric rehabilitation inpatients.
Design:
RESORT is an observational, longitudinal cohort.
Setting And Participants:
Geriatric rehabilitation inpatients admitted to geriatric rehabilitation wards at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia (N = 1006).
Methods:
Changes in body weight and body composition [fat mass (FM), appendicular lean mass (ALM)] from admission to discharge were analyzed using linear mixed models. Body mass index (BMI) categories, (risk of) malnutrition (Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition), sarcopenia (European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People), dependence in activities of daily living (ADL), multimorbidity, and cognitive impairment were tested as geriatric variables by which the changes in body weight and composition may differ.
Results:
A total of 1006 patients [median age: 83.2 (77.7-88.8) years, 58.5% female] were included. Body weight, FM (kg), and FM% decreased (0.30 kg, 0.43 kg, and 0.46%, respectively) and ALM (kg) and ALM% increased (0.17 kg and 0.33%, respectively) during geriatric rehabilitation. Body weight increased in patients with underweight; decreased in patients with normal/overweight, obesity, ADL dependence and in those without malnutrition and sarcopenia. ALM% and FM% decreased in patients with normal/overweight. ALM increased in patients without multimorbidity and in those with malnutrition and sarcopenia; ALM% increased in patients without multimorbidity and with sarcopenia.
Conclusions And Implications:
In geriatric rehabilitation, body weight increased in patients with underweight but decreased in patients with normal/overweight and obesity. ALM increased in patients with malnutrition and sarcopenia but not in patients without. This suggests the need for improved standard of care independent of patients' nutritional risk.
More Related Videos
13:35Segmentation and Linear Measurement for Body Composition Analysis using Slice-O-Matic and Horos
Published on: March 21, 2021
12:59Improving Strength, Power, Muscle Aerobic Capacity, and Glucose Tolerance through Short-term Progressive Strength Training Among Elderly People
Published on: July 5, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Bone Disorders
Bone deposition is also affected by the levels of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone that promote osteoblast activity and bone matrix synthesis. When the level of these hormones decreases due to aging, it causes a reduction in bone deposition. As a result, bone resorption by osteoclasts...
The Effect of Aging on Tissues
The Functions of the Skeletal System
Overview of Protein Metabolism
Amino acids play various roles in the body once they are absorbed into cells. They are restructured...
Changes in the Appendicular Skeleton with Age
Initially, the limb buds consist of a core of mesenchyme covered by a layer of ectoderm. The ectoderm at the end of the limb bud thickens to form a narrow crest called the apical ectodermal ridge. This ridge stimulates the underlying...
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...