Prevalence of sarcopenia and its associated factors in patients attending geriatric clinics in Vietnam: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia and its associated factors in patients attending geriatric clinics in Vietnam. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional study was conducted in consecutive patients aged ≥60 visiting outpatient clinics of the National Geriatric Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, from January 2018 to October 2018. Handgrip strength was measured with a hand dynamometer. Whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was applied to measure the appendicular skeletal muscle mass. Sarcopenia was defined by the criteria proposed by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS 2019) and by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Sarcopenia Project. RESULTS: There were 600 participants, mean age 70.0±8.0, 60.8% female. The prevalence of sarcopenia was 54.7% according to AWGS 2019 criteria and 40.5% according to FNIH. In multivariate logistic regression, age (adjusted OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.11), male (adjusted OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.29 to 3.21), underweight (adjusted OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.22 to 4.41), being malnourished (adjusted OR 3.77, 95% CI 1.19 to 11.91), chronic lung diseases (adjusted OR 3.48, 95% CI 2.10 to 5.77) and lower physical activity were significantly associated with sarcopenia defined by AWGS 2019 criteria. With FNIH definition, the significantly associated factors were age (adjusted OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.11), male (adjusted OR 6.78, 95% CI 4.12 to 11.17), low education (adjusted OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.27 to 3.63), being malnourished (adjusted OR 3.35, 95% CI 1.28 to 8.76), chronic lung diseases (adjusted OR 2.58, 95% CI 1.56 to 4.28) and lower physical activity level. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of sarcopenia in patients attending geriatric clinics was high. Further studies are needed to examine the impact of sarcopenia on adverse outcomes in this population.

Global Mapping of Interventions to Improve Quality of Life of People with Diabetes in 1990-2018.

Improving the quality of life (QOL) of people living with diabetes is the ultimate goal of diabetes care. This study provides a quantitative overview of global research on interventions aiming to improve QOL among people with diabetes. A total of 700 English peer-reviewed papers published during 1990-2018 were collected and extracted from the Web of Science databases. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) analysis was undertaken to categorize papers by topic or theme. Results showed an increase in interventions to improve the QOL of patients with diabetes across the time period, with major contributions from high-income countries. Community- and family-based interventions, including those focused on lifestyle and utilizing digital technologies, were common approaches. Interventions that addressed comorbidities in people with diabetes also increased. Our findings emphasize the necessity of translating the evidence from clinical interventions to community interventions. In addition, they underline the importance of developing collaborative research between developed and developing countries.

Health-related quality of life in elderly diabetic outpatients in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important indicator for designing care and treatment services for patients with diabetes. This is especially true given its rapid increase among the elderly population in Vietnam. HRQoL data in elderly diabetic Vietnamese are currently limited. This study aimed to 1) measure the HRQoL of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in Vietnam and 2) identify related factors and their relationship with HRQoL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. We recruited 171 patients aged ≥60 years with T2DM at the Outpatient Department, National Geriatric Hospital from June to November 2015. Patients were asked to evaluate their health status using the EuroQol Five Dimensions Three Levels (EQ-5D-3L) and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Sociodemographic, diabetic treatment, and management characteristics were collected. Multivariate Tobit regression was used to determine which factors were associated with HRQoL, and the strength of this relationship. RESULTS: Patients reported some problems in all areas of the EQ-5D: pain/discomfort (50.9%), mobility (33.3%), anxiety/depression (24.0%), usual activities (21.1%), and self-care (10.5%). The mean EQ-5D index score was 0.80 (SD=0.20), and the mean EQ-VAS was 57.5 (SD=14.4). Patients who were male, lived in an urban area, could afford treatment, were taking fewer medications, and monitored blood pressure often (1-4 times a week) had a higher EQ-5D index when compared to other groups. Meanwhile, a longer duration of diabetes and older age were negatively associated with the EQ-5D index. Patients with any comorbidity had lower VAS scores than their counterparts. CONCLUSION: The presence of diabetes and comorbidity were responsible for a significant decrease in HRQoL. Screening and identifying health problems, providing prompt treatment, and facilitating self-management among patients have the potential to increase diabetic patients' HRQoL.