Abstract
Background
Although low muscle function/strength is an important predictor of poor clinical outcome in older patients, information on its impact on mental health in clinical practice is still lacking.
Aims
The aim of this report is to measure the impact of low muscle function measured by handgrip strength on mental health of older people during both acute illness and recovery.
Methods
Four hundred and thirty-two randomly selected hospitalized older patients had their baseline demographic and clinical characteristics assessed within 72 h of admission, at 6 weeks and at 6 months. Low muscle strength-handgrip was defined using the European Working Group criteria. Mental health outcome measures including cognitive state, depression symptoms and quality of life were also measured.
Results
Among the 432 patients recruited, 308 (79%) had low muscle strength at baseline. Corresponding figures at 6 weeks and at 6 months were 140 (73%) and 158 (75%). Patients with poor muscle strength were significantly older with increased disability and poor nutritional status compared with those with normal muscle strength. After adjustment for age, gender, disability, comorbidity including severity of acute illness and body mass index patients with low muscle strength had worse cognitive function, quality of life and higher depression symptoms compared with those with normal muscle strength over a 6-month period (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
Poor muscle strength in older people is associated with poor cognitive state and quality of life and increased depression symptoms during both acute illness and recovery.
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Acknowledgements
The index study was funded by The Health Foundation project grant. Thank-you to Dr. Sarah Forster for her help with data collection.
Author contributions
SG is the principal investigator, wrote the first draft, participated in the design of the study and performed the statistical analysis and writing of the final manuscript. AA helped with data entry and analysis and drafting of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The authors declare that they have no financial or non-financial competing interest or conflict of interest.
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The study received local research ethics committee approval.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Gariballa, S., Alessa, A. Association between muscle function, cognitive state, depression symptoms and quality of life of older people: evidence from clinical practice. Aging Clin Exp Res 30, 351–357 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-017-0775-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-017-0775-y