Differences in physical performance based on the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index in elderly female cardiac patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Little is known about differences in the risk of poor nutritional status as assessed by the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) in relation to physical performance in elderly female cardiac inpatients. The present study aimed to determine both differences in physical performance based on the GNRI and physical performance cut-off values according to the GNRI in elderly female cardiac inpatients. METHODS: We enrolled 105 consecutive female Japanese inpatients aged ≥65 years (mean age, 74.6 years) with cardiac disease in this cross-sectional study. We divided the patients into two groups according to GNRI: high-GNRI group (≥92 points) (n = 71) and low-GNRI group (<92 points) (n = 34). Handgrip strength (HG), knee extensor muscle strength (KEMS), gait speed (GS), and one-leg standing time (OLST) were assessed as indices of hospital physical performance and compared between the two groups to determine cut-off values of physical performance. RESULTS: After adjustment for age and left ventricular ejection fraction, HG, KEMS, GS, and OLST were significantly lower in the low-GNRI versus high-GNRI group. Cut-off values by ROC curve analysis were 16.2 kgf (AUC = 0.66; p < 0.001) for HG, 34.3 % of body weight (AUC = 0.62; p = 0.04) for KEMS, 1.24 m/s (AUC = 0.72; p < 0.01) for GS, and 8.28 s (AUC = 0.62; p = 0.04) for OLST. CONCLUSION: The risk of poor nutrition, as indicated by a low GNRI, might be a predictor of lower physical performance. Cut-off values determined in this study might be minimum target goals for physical performance that can be attained by elderly female cardiac inpatients.

Predictive value of functional limitation for disease severity in patients with mild chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to verify a measure for functional limitation using the Performance Measure for Activity of Daily Living-8 (PMADL-8) clinical assessment tool. This tool was utilized to determine disease severity by comparing disease severity with physiological and demographic variables, which have been well documented as predictors for mortality and rehospitalization in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. METHODS: We consecutively enrolled 125 CHF patients with impaired left ventricular systolic function who underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing in Nagoya University Hospital. We measured PMADL-8, which had a total score that ranged from 8 to 32 points, in which higher scores indicated severe functional limitations to evaluate the patient's functional limitations and evaluate clinical physiologic variables, which were established as prognostic factors of CHF. First, the association between PMADL-8 and other clinical variables was analyzed by correlation coefficients, and then, multivariate regression analysis was performed to select independent correlate factors. Lastly, we identified the optimal PMADL-8 threshold for detecting disease severity by comparing with the threshold for disease severity in selected variables. RESULTS: The PMADL-8 indicated excellent correlation with peak oxygen uptake (peakVO(2)) (r=-0.743, p<0.001), and the multivariate regression analysis revealed that peakVO(2) was independently correlated with the PMADL-8 (p<0.001). The optimal PMADL-8 threshold for detecting a peakVO(2) value of 18 ml/min/kg was 18 points. Similarly, a peakVO(2) value of 14 ml/min/kg was 22 points, and a peakVO(2) value of 16 ml/min/kg was 20 points. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that functional limitation as evaluated by the PMADL-8 is well correlated with peakVO(2). PMADL-8 may have potential as a clinical assessment tool to manage disease status in CHF patients.