Nutrition for elderly individuals during the Covid-19 pandemic

Aging process, genetic factor, lifestyle, and disease(s) give contribution to the phenotype of robust, prefrail or frail elderly. The frailer the elderly, the more vulnerable they become to poor health outcomes. Aged patients are more likely to have adverse outcomes from Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Recovery from such disease also take a longer time compared to the younger age grou

Diagnostic Performance of the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) compared with Malnutrition Nutritional Assessment (MNA) in Assessing Malnutrition among Geriatric Inpatients

Introduction. As many as 76.6% of patients aged 60 years and above (elderly) are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition based on MNA within the first 48 hours of hospital admission. The prevalence of malnutrition varies widely depending on the population studied, the healthcare setting and the tools used for the assessment. To date, SGA is widely used in the diagnosis of malnutrition for adults and MNA for elderly patients. Recently, experts proposed empirical consensus of GLIM criteria for determining the diagnosis of malnutrition in adults. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of GLIM criteria as a new consensus in determining the diagnosis of malnutrition in comparison to MNA as a semi-gold standard for nutritional assessment in the elderly. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to April 2022 on 103 consecutively recruited elderly patients aged ≥60 years in the Internal Medicine Wards at Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM), Jakarta, Indonesia. Results. There were 91.3%, 57.3% and 54.4% malnourished elderly patients upon admission to the hospital, based on GLIM criteria, MNA-SF and MNA-LF, respectively. GLIM has good accuracy compared to both MNA-SF and MNA-LF, as long as the category of malnourished in MNA is a combination of malnutrition and at risk of malnutrition. GLIM had 97.9% sensitivity, 87.5% specificity, AUC 0.93, 98.9% PPV, 77.8% NPV, 7.83 positive LR and 0.02 negative LR towards MNA-SF, and a sensitivity value of 98.9%, specificity 88.9%, AUC 0.94, PPV 98.9%, NPV 88.9%, positive LR 8.91, and negative LR 0.01 towards MNA-LF. Conclusion. GLIM showed good diagnostic accuracy to determine nutritional status in the elderly, especially upon admission to the hospital, so that appropriate early nutritional interventions can be given

Effect of Metformin on Handgrip Strength, Gait Speed, Myostatin Serum Level, and Health-related Quality of Life: A Double Blind Randomized Controlled Trial among Non-diabetic Pre-frail Elderly Patients

Background: sarcopenia contributes to the development of frailty syndrome. Frailty syndrome is potentially improved by modifying insulin resistance, inflammation, and myostatin level. This study is aimed to investigate the effect of metformin on handgrip strength, gait speed, myostatin serum level, and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) among non-diabetic pre-frail elderly patients. Methods: a double blind randomized controlled trial study was conducted on non-diabetic elderly outpatients aged ≥ 60 years with pre-frail status based on phenotype and/ or index criteria (Cardiovascular Health Study and/ or Frailty Index 40 items) consecutively recruited from March 2015 to June 2016 at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. One-hundred-twenty subjects who met the research criteria were randomized and equally assigned into 3 x 500 mg metformin or placebo group. The study outcomes were measured at baseline and after 16 weeks of intervention. Results: out of 120 subjects, 43 subjects in metformin group and 48 subjects in placebo group who completed the intervention. There was a significant improvement on the mean gait speed of metformin group by 0.39 (0.77) second or 0.13 (0.24) meter/second that remained significant after adjusting for important prognostic factors (p = 0.024). There was no significant difference on handgrip strength, myostatin serum level, and HR-QoL between both groups. Conclusion: 3 x 500 mg metformin for 16 weeks was statistically significant and clinically important in improving usual gait speed as one of the HR-QoL dimensions, but did not significantly improve the EQ-5D index score, handgrip strength, nor myostatin serum level

Acta Medica Indonesiana - The Indonesian Journal of Internal Medicine 253 Extended Dual Antiplatelet for Diabetic Elderly Patients After Drug-eluting Stent Implantation: an Evidence-based Clinical Review

Antiplatelet is an important drug for patients with coronary heart disease undergoing drug-eluting stent implantation. Current guidelines recommend dual antiplatelet with aspirin and a P2Y12 inhibitor for at least 12 months. Continuation of DAPT beyond 12 months may be considered for preventing very late stent thrombosis. Several patient-related factors that contribute to stent thrombosis have been recognized, including diabetes and advanced age, but the optimal DAPT duration for these patients is still controversial. This article reviews the efficacy of extended (>12 months) compared to standard (12 months) DAPT for reducing myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis rates, especially in diabetic elderly patients. Literature screening was conducted at PubMed and Cochrane database using “dual antiplatelet”, “duration”, “adult-onset diabetes mellitus”, “elderly” and, “drug-eluting stent” as keywords. Article types were limited to meta-analysis, systematic review, randomized clinical trial, or clinical trial that compared the efficacy of extended to standard duration of  DAPT. Clinical outcomes used were myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis. The initial search was done to find relevant studies specifically assessing diabetic and elderly patients, then widened to diabetic and non-diabetic patients of any age above eighteen years. A total of 5 clinical trials and 1 meta-analysis were reviewed, showing an overall risk reduction of stent thrombosis and myocardial infarction. This review has several limitations, such as its potential selection bias and underrepresented proportion of diabetic and elderly patients. High-risk subgroups like diabetes mellitus has a tendency of increased ischemic risk, while advanced age could have both increased ischemic risk and bleeding risk. This review suggests that it is better to reserve extended dual antiplatelet therapy for patients with high ischemic risk and low bleeding risk (tailored therapy). Key words: adult-onset diabetes mellitus, drug-eluting stent, extended dual antiplatelet, elderly, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis