16 research outputs found
Evaluating the practicability of commercial food-scanners for non-destructive quality assessment of tomato fruit
The assessment of tomato fruit quality depends on a variety of extrinsic and intrinsic quality parameters such as color, firmness and sugar content. Conventional measurement methods of these quality parameters are time consuming, require various measurement de-vices, and in case of intrinsic quality, involve destructive measurements. Latest research focused on the non-destructive determination of these parameters by using spectroscopic measurements. The goal of this study was to evaluate the capability of three commercially available portable and miniaturized VIS /NIR spectrometers, so called food-scanners, in predicting various tomato quality attributes in a non-destructive way. Additionally, this study evaluated the software provided by manufacturers for building of prediction models by comparing the results derived from those software tools to state-of-the-art software for multivariate analysis. Evaluation of food-scanner spectra resulted in prediction models of high accuracy (rÂČ > 0.90) for tomato fruit firmness, dry matter, total soluble solids and color values L*, a* and h°. Prediction models computed with manufacturerâs soft-ware showed similar accuracy to those derived from state-of-the-art evaluation software. Results of this study illustrate the great potential of commercial food-scanners for non-destructive quality measurement. Further important features of food-scanners with respect to the application along the fresh produce supply chain are addressed
Sarcopenic obesity and complex interventions with nutrition and exercise in community-dwelling older persons – a narrative review
Prevalence of sarcopenia in Germany and the corresponding effect of osteoarthritis in females 70 years and older living in the community: results of the FORMoSA study
ESPEN Guideline on Clinical Nutrition and Hydration in Geriatrics
Background: Malnutrition and dehydration are widespread in older people, and obesity is an increasing problem. In clinical practice, it is often unclear which strategies are suitable and effective in counteracting these key health threats. Aim: To provide evidence-based recommendations for clinical nutrition and hydration in older persons in order to prevent and/or treat malnutrition and dehydration. Further, to address whether weight-reducing interventions are appropriate for overweight or obese older persons. Methods: This guideline was developed according to the standard operating procedure for ESPEN guidelines and consensus papers. A systematic literature search for systematic reviews and primary studies was performed based on 33 clinical questions in PICO format. Existing evidence was graded according to the SIGN grading system. Recommendations were developed and agreed in a multistage consensus process. Results: We provide eighty-two evidence-based recommendations for nutritional care in older persons, covering four main topics: Basic questions and general principles, recommendations for older persons with malnutrition or at risk of malnutrition, recommendations for older patients with specific diseases, and recommendations to prevent, identify and treat dehydration. Overall, we recommend that all older persons shall routinely be screened for malnutrition in order to identify an existing risk early. Oral nutrition can be supported by nursing interventions, education, nutritional counselling, food modification and oral nutritional supplements. Enteral nutrition should be initiated if oral, and parenteral if enteral nutrition is insufficient or impossible and the general prognosis is altogether favorable. Dietary restrictions should generally be avoided, and weight-reducing diets shall only be considered in obese older persons with weight-related health problems and combined with physical exercise. All older persons should be considered to be at risk of low-intake dehydration and encouraged to consume adequate amounts of drinks. Generally, interventions shall be individualized, comprehensive and part of a multimodal and multidisciplinary team approach. Conclusion: A range of effective interventions is available to support adequate nutrition and hydration in older persons in order to maintain or improve nutritional status and improve clinical course and quality of life. These interventions should be implemented in clinical practice and routinely used
Validation of a proxyâreported SARCâF questionnaire for current and retrospective screening of sarcopeniaârelated functional impairments
BACKGROUND: The strength, assistance walking, rise from a chair, climb stairs, and falls (SARCâF) questionnaire is a wellâestablished instrument for screening of sarcopenia and sarcopeniaârelated functional impairments. As it is based on selfâreporting, its use precludes patients who are unable to answer the questionnaire as a consequence of severe acute diseases or cognitive impairment. Therefore, we aimed to validate a proxyâreported version of the SARCâF for both adâhoc as well as retrospective screening for severe sarcopeniaârelated functional impairments. METHODS: Patients aged â„60 years completed the SARCâF and performed the short physical performance battery (SPPB) at baseline (T1). Proxies in Cohort A gave a simultaneous assessment of the patients' functional status with the proxyâreported SARCâF at T1 and again, retrospectively, after 3 months (T2). Proxies in Cohort B only completed the SARCâF retrospectively at T2. The questionnaires' performances were assessed through sensitivity/specificity analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. For nonâinferiority analyses, results of both the patientâreported and proxyâreported SARCâF were correlated with the SPPB total score as well as the results of the chairârise test subcategory; the respective correlation coefficients were tested against each other. RESULTS: One hundred and four patients and 135 proxies participated. Using a SPPB score < 9 points as the reference standard, the proxyâreported SARCâF identified patients at high risk for sarcopeniaârelated functional impairment with a sensitivity of 0.81 (adâhoc), 0.88 (retrospective Cohort A), and 0.87 (retrospective Cohort B) as well as a specificity of 0.89 (adâhoc), 0.78 (retrospective Cohort A), and 0.64 (retrospective Cohort B). Areas under the ROC curves were â„ 0.9 for the adâhoc proxyâreported SARCâF and the retrospective proxyâreported SARCâF in both cohorts. The proxyâreported SARCâF showed a nonâinferior correlation with the SPPB compared with the patientâreported SARCâF for adâhoc (P = <0.001) as well as retrospective screening for severe sarcopeniaârelated functional impairment in both Cohorts A (P = 0.007) and B (P = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS: Proxyâreported SARCâF is a valid instrument for both adâhoc as well as retrospective screening for sarcopeniaârelated functional impairment and could become the standard tool for evaluating this risk in older adults with severe acute disease, for example, in patients with quickly evolving haematological conditions
Treatment of sarcopenia in nursing home residents : a scoping review protocol
Introduction: Sarcopenia has been recognised as a disease that is consistently associated with a range of geriatric syndromes and negative health consequences. The prevalence of sarcopenia is high among nursing home residents. Several systematic reviews have assessed the efficacy of a range of treatment strategies against sarcopenia. However, no systematic review discussing specifically the treatment options for sarcopenic nursing home residents has been conducted so far. The objective of this scoping review, therefore, is to identify and map existing studies that assessed the feasibility and effectiveness of interventions that were conducted with the aim to treat sarcopenic nursing home residents.Methods and analysis: The protocol was developed using an established scoping review methodological framework. A systematic search of relevant literature databases will be conducted. We will also conduct a search of ClinicalTrials.gov and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Search Portal for ongoing and recently completed trials, and will search for grey literature. Two reviewers will independently screen titles and abstracts for inclusion, followed by screening of the full text of potentially relevant articles to determine final inclusion. A data extraction sheet will be developed including key study characteristics that will be relevant for collating, summarising and reporting the results of the scoping review.Ethics and dissemination: The proposed scoping review will undertake a secondary analysis of publicly available data, and therefore does not require ethical approval. The results will be disseminated to researchers in the field by submitting the review to a peer-reviewed international journal and by presenting our findings at relevant conferences. We expect that the results of the final review will help to guide future research in the field of sarcopenia treatment for nursing home residents.publishe
Sarcopenic obesity and complex interventions with nutrition and exercise in community-dwelling older persons â a narrative review
One of the many threats to independent life is the age-related loss of muscle mass and muscle function commonly referred to as sarcopenia. Another important health risk in old age leading to functional decline is obesity. Obesity prevalence in older persons is increasing, and like sarcopenia, severe obesity has been consistently associated with several negative health outcomes, disabilities, falls, and mobility limitations. Both sarcopenia and obesity pose a health risk for older persons per se, but in combination, they synergistically increase the risk for negative health outcomes and an earlier onset of disability. This combination of sarcopenia and obesity is commonly referred to as sarcopenic obesity. The present narrative review reports the current knowledge on the effects of complex interventions containing nutrition and exercise interventions in community-dwelling older persons with sarcopenic obesity. To date, several complex interventions with different outcomes have been conducted and have shown promise in counteracting either sarcopenia or obesity, but only a few studies have addressed the complex syndrome of sarcopenic obesity. Strong evidence exists on exercise interventions in sarcopenia, especially on strength training, and for obese older persons, strength exercise in combination with a dietary weight loss intervention demonstrated positive effects on muscle function and body fat. The differences in study protocols and target populations make it impossible at the moment to extract data for a meta-analysis or give state-of-the-art recommendations based on reliable evidence. A conclusion that can be drawn from this narrative review is that more exercise programs containing strength and aerobic exercise in combination with dietary interventions including a supervised weight loss program and/or protein supplements should be conducted in order to investigate possible positive effects on sarcopenic obesity
Low postoperative dietary intake is associated with worse functional course in geriatric patients up to 6 months after hip fracture
Prevalence of sarcopenia in Germany and the corresponding effect of osteoarthritis in females 70 years and older living in the community: results of the FORMoSA study
Background
Although sarcopenia represents a challenging burden for health care systems around the world, its prevalence in the elderly population varies widely. The primary aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of sarcopenia in community-dwelling (CD) German women aged 70 years and older; the secondary aim was to assess the effect of osteoarthritis (OA) on sarcopenia prevalence in this cohort.
Methods
A total of 689 Caucasian females 18â35 years old and 1,325 CD females 70 years+ living in Northern Bavaria, Germany, were assessed during the initial phase of the FORMoSA research project. Anthropometry, total and regional muscle mass, were assessed by segmental multifrequency Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. Further 10 m walking speed and handgrip strength were evaluated to apply the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People definition of sarcopenia. Covariates were determined by questionnaires and interviews.
Results
Applying the algorithm of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People of two standard deviations below the mean value for appendicular skeletal muscle mass of a reference cohort of the young cohort (5.66 kg/m2), low gait speed (â€0.8 m/s), and low grip strength (<20 kg), the prevalence of sarcopenia in CD German females 70 years and older was 4.5% (70â79 years: 2.8% vs â„80 years: 9.9%; P<0.001). Participants with OA at the hip and lower limbs (n=252) exhibited significantly higher rates of sarcopenia (OA: 9.1 vs non-OA: 3.5%). Of importance, anthropometric, demographic, health, and lifestyle parameters (except exercise participation) of our cohorts corresponded with Bavarian or German data for CD women 70 years+.
Conclusion
The prevalence of sarcopenia in CD German females 70 years+ is relatively low. However, participants with OA at the hip or lower limbs were at increased risk for sarcopenia
Omega-3 fatty acid levels in red blood cell membranes and physical decline over 3~years: longitudinal data from the MAPT study
International audienceStudies have shown that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are associated with brain, cardiovascular, and immune function, as well as physical performance and bone health in older adults. So far, few studies have investigated the associations between PUFA status and performance-based tests of physical function. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between the omega-3 PUFA levels (eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) in red blood cell (RBC) membranes and physical performance, in a sample of community-dwelling older adults. This is a longitudinal observational study using data from the Multidomain Alzheimer's Disease Trial (MAPT), a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Four hundred participants from MAPT placebo group with available PUFA data were included. Omega-3 PUFA levels in RBC membranes were measured at baseline, and their percentage of total RBC membrane fatty acid content was calculated. We dichotomized the standardized omega-3 PUFA levels in RBC membranes as low (lowest quartile) vs. high (three upper quartiles). Gait speed (in m/s) and short physical performance battery (SPPB) score (range from 0 to 12, higher is better) were used to assess physical performance at baseline and after 6, 12, 24, and 36~months. Participants were 75.2 (\textpm~4.3) years old and 68% were female. Bivariate analyses found that the characteristic of the participants in the lowest quartile of omega-3 PUFA levels (Q1) and those in the three upper quartiles (Q2-Q4) was not different at baseline; only those in Q1 were slightly older. In an unadjusted model, the difference in gait speed after 3~years of follow-up was significant (-~0.09~\textpm~0.03~m/s; p~=~0.008) between participants in Q1 and those in Q2-Q4. In a model adjusted for age, gender, educational level, cognitive function, depressive status, body mass index, physical activity, grip strength, and their time interaction, this difference remained clinically relevant (-~0.07~\textpm~0.04~m/s; p~=~0.075). No difference between the two groups was found for the SPPB score development over 3~years. Older adults with subjective memory complaints and in the lower quartile of omega-3 have a faster decline on gait speed compared to people in the three upper quartiles. Other longitudinal studies are needed to explore this association and to examine mechanisms