Age-group-specific associations of admission nutritional status and sarcopenia-related indicators with functional...

Globallly, patients aged ≥80 years represent a growing proportion of stroke patients and frequently experience unfavorable prognoses. Although nutritional status and sarcopenia-related indicators have been proposed as prognostic factors, whether these factors differ between patients aged <80 years and those aged ≥80 years remains unclear. This study aims to examine the associations of admission nutritional status and sarcopenia-related indicators with functional outcomes separately in two age groups.

This retrospective cohort study includes patients with acute stroke in a single stroke center. Nutritional status (body mass index [BMI], Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form) and sarcopenia-related indicators (i.e., calf circumference, grip strength) were assessed at admission. Functional outcomes at 3 months were evaluated using the modified Rankin scale (mRS), with poor outcomes defined as mRS ≥ 3 and failure to recover to prestroke mRS. Multivariable analyses were conducted for each age group.

A total of 633 patients were included (median age, 80 years). The patients in the ≥80 years group showed significantly higher rates of poor outcomes compared with those in the <80 years group. In adjusted analyses, low BMI, malnutrition risk, and low muscle strength were associated with poor outcomes in the <80 years group, whereas only low muscle strength remained significant in the ≥80 years group (adjusted odds ratio = 6.51, 95% confidence interval 1.41-43.21, P = 0.029).

Nutritional status was associated with poor outcomes in <80 years patients with stroke. However, low muscle strength at admission was consistently associated with poor functional outcomes in both <80 years and ≥80 years stroke groups.