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Trajectories of nutritional status and cognitive impairment among older Taiwanese with hip fracture

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objective

This paper describes the trajectories of nutritional status and cognitive impairment and their correlation among older Taiwanese over 1 year after hip-fracture surgery.

Design

Secondary analysis of data from a clinical trial evaluating the effects of three types of post-discharge care for 292 older hip-fracture patients (age >60 years).

Measurements

Nutritional status was assessed by the Mini Nutritional Assessment before and 1, 3, 6, 12 months after hospital discharge. Cognitive function was measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination before surgery, at hospital discharge, 6 and 12 months after discharge. Trajectories of nutritional status and cognitive impairment were depicted by latent class growth modeling, whereas linkages between nutritional-status and cognitive-impairment trajectories were assessed by multinomial logistic regression.

Results

Nutritional status in general improved significantly, particularly during the first 3 months after discharge. We identified three trajectories of nutritional status: malnourished (15.4%), at risk for malnutrition (38.9%), and well-nourished (45.7%). In contrast, cognitive changes followed four largely linear but distinct trajectories: moderately impaired (12.2%), mildly impaired (27.8%), borderline impaired (21.8%), and cognitively intact (38.2%). Trajectories of nutritional status were significantly associated with cognitive-function trajectories. For instance, relative to malnourished patients, well-nourished patients were 95% less likely (OR=0.05, CI =0.01-0.24) to be moderately cognitively impaired.

Conclusion

A good nutritional-status trajectory after hip fracture was associated with better cognitive function. To treat and care for elderly hip-fractured patients, specific interventions need to target those who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition to decrease their risk for cognitive impairment.

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Correspondence to Yea-Ing L. Shyu.

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Wang, H.P., Liang, J., Kuo, L.M. et al. Trajectories of nutritional status and cognitive impairment among older Taiwanese with hip fracture. J Nutr Health Aging 21, 38–45 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-016-0756-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-016-0756-4

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