Assessment and Management of Appetite Loss in Older Adults: An ICFSR Task Force Report.

The Appetite loss in older people is an important unmet clinical need in geriatrics. The International Conference on Frailty and Sarcopenia Research (ICFSR) organized a Task Force on April 20th 2022, in Boston, to discuss issues related to appetite loss in older people, in particular, the assessment tools currently available, its evaluation in the primary care setting, and considerations about its management. There is a high heterogeneity in terms of the etiology of appetite loss in older people and a gold standard assessment tool for evaluating this condition is still absent. Although this may render difficult the management of poor appetite in clinical practice, validated assessment tools are currently available to facilitate early identification of appetite loss and support care decisions. As research on biomarkers of appetite loss progresses, assessment tools will soon be used jointly with biomarkers for more accurate diagnosis and prognosis. In addition, efforts to foster the development of drugs with a favorable risk/benefit ratio to combat poor appetite should be strengthened.

Validation of F3ALLS Assessment in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to evaluate the brief F3ALLS assessment's validity in screening fall risk. DESIGN: This is a cross sectional and longitudinal study. SETTING: Participants were recruited from outpatient primary care clinics. PARTICIPANTS: Older ambulatory adults ages 65-90 volunteered for this study. MEASUREMENTS: Falls risk was measured with TGBA and F3ALLS questionnaires. A 6-month follow-up period assessed for falls using falls diaries and chart review. RESULTS: Participants (n=97) were older adults ages 73.91±6.4, 68% (n=66) female. 31% of participants reported at least one fall at 6-months. F3ALLS scores were higher in participants who reported 1 or more falls at 6-months follow-up (3.23±1.5). Higher F3ALLS scores were associated with 6-month fall risk (OR=1.463, 95% CI=1.098-1.949). A score > 3 stratified patients as at risk of falling (AUC=0.77, P<.001; Sensitivity=0.65, Specificity=0.71). CONCLUSION: The F3ALLS questionnaire adequately classifies person at risk versus not at risk for falls, and higher (worse) F3ALLS scores are associated with falls over 6 months.

Validation of the Saint Louis University Quality of Life Questionnaire in Older Adults with Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and negatively impacts individuals' quality of life (QOL). One essential component of disease management in older adults with AD is the maintenance and improvement of QOL. The QOL-AD is a tool that can be administered to evaluate QOL in AD patients, but it can take too long to administer in a patient visit. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of a more brief, 6-item QOL questionnaire, LIFEAD, comparing it to the QOL-AD in older adults with mild to moderate cognitive dysfunction. DESIGN: Prospective validation study. SETTING: Participants were patients presenting to internal medicine and geriatrics outpatient clinics and a nursing home. PARTICIPANTS: 285 adults 65 and older with mild to moderate cognitive impairment. MEASUREMENTS: QOL was assessed using LIFEAD and the QOL-AD. Demographic data were collected and level of depression was determined through a demographic questionnaire and the PHQ-8, respectively. RESULTS: QOL-AD mean item scores ranged from 2.27-3.32 with an average scale total of 36.28 ± 6.48. LIFEAD mean item scores ranged from 2.26-2.51 with an average scale total of 14.28 ± 2.87. A majority (68%) of patients rated all items on LIFEAD as either average or good. The correlation between LIFEAD and the QOL-AD was 0.71 (p<0.001). Both LIFEAD and the QOL-AD showed strong internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.82 and 0.87, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study validated LIFEAD and exhibited LIFEAD can assess QOL in older adults with mild to moderate cognitive dysfunction in the clinic or nursing home. LIFEAD is a short, practical questionnaire and is easily administered in approximately 1 minute. Further research on LIFEAD could be done with larger samples, in different clinical populations, and including persons of other ethnic backgrounds.

Validation of the ALONE Scale: A Clinical Measure of Loneliness.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of a rapid, clinically administrable loneliness screening tool for older adults called the ALONE scale. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study. SETTING: Participants were recruited from either ambulatory clinics or a nursing home. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 65 years of age or older and had SLUMS scores of 14 or greater. MEASUREMENTS: Construct validity of the 5-item ALONE scale was examined through correlation with the previously validated UCLA-20 Loneliness Questionnaire. Divergent validity for discriminating between loneliness and depression was examined through correlation with the PHQ-8 items. Test-retest reliability was assessed by correlation between baseline ALONE scores and those from re-administration in 2-3 weeks. RESULTS: Among ambulatory clinic participants (n=199), the ALONE scale showed strong correlation with the UCLA-20 (r=0.81, p < 0.001). Similar correlation coefficients were seen among demographic subgroups: White Americans (n=123) (r=0.81, p < 0.001), Black Americans (n=66) (r=0.79, p < 0.001), adults ≥ 75 years (n=74) (r=0.86, p < 0.001). Among nursing home patients (n=22), the ALONE scale showed fair correlation with the UCLA-20 (r=0.74, p < 0.001). Test-retest of the ALONE scale showed a strong correlation (r=0.89, p < 0.001). ROC curve analysis determined ALONE scale scores of 8 and greater as optimal for severe loneliness screening. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the ALONE scale has strong validity in assessing older adults for severe loneliness. The brief, comprehensible nature of the ALONE scale reduces adoption burden making it optimal for use in clinical settings.

Appetite Loss and Anorexia of Aging in Clinical Care: An ICFSR Task Force Report.

Appetite loss/anorexia of aging is a highly prevalent and burdensome geriatric syndrome that strongly impairs the quality of life of older adults. Loss of appetite is associated with several clinical conditions, including comorbidities and other geriatric syndromes, such as frailty. Despite its importance, appetite loss has been under-evaluated and, consequently, under-diagnosed and under-treated in routine clinical care. The International Conference on Frailty and Sarcopenia Research (ICFSR) Task Force met virtually on September 27th 2021 to debate issues related to appetite loss/anorexia of aging. In particular, topics related to the implementation and management of appetite loss in at-risk older adult populations, energy balance during aging, and the design of future clinical trials on this topic were discussed. Future actions in this field should focus on the systematic assessment of appetite in the care pathway of older people, such as the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) program recommended by the World Health Organization. Moreover, clinical care should move from the assessment to the treatment of appetite loss/anorexia. Researchers continue to pursue their efforts to find out effective pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions with a favorable risk/benefit ratio.

International Exercise Recommendations in Older Adults (ICFSR): Expert Consensus Guidelines.

The human ageing process is universal, ubiquitous and inevitable. Every physiological function is being continuously diminished. There is a range between two distinct phenotypes of ageing, shaped by patterns of living - experiences and behaviours, and in particular by the presence or absence of physical activity (PA) and structured exercise (i.e., a sedentary lifestyle). Ageing and a sedentary lifestyle are associated with declines in muscle function and cardiorespiratory fitness, resulting in an impaired capacity to perform daily activities and maintain independent functioning. However, in the presence of adequate exercise/PA these changes in muscular and aerobic capacity with age are substantially attenuated. Additionally, both structured exercise and overall PA play important roles as preventive strategies for many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, and obesity; improvement of mobility, mental health, and quality of life; and reduction in mortality, among other benefits. Notably, exercise intervention programmes improve the hallmarks of frailty (low body mass, strength, mobility, PA level, energy) and cognition, thus optimising functional capacity during ageing. In these pathological conditions exercise is used as a therapeutic agent and follows the precepts of identifying the cause of a disease and then using an agent in an evidence-based dose to eliminate or moderate the disease. Prescription of PA/structured exercise should therefore be based on the intended outcome (e.g., primary prevention, improvement in fitness or functional status or disease treatment), and individualised, adjusted and controlled like any other medical treatment. In addition, in line with other therapeutic agents, exercise shows a dose-response effect and can be individualised using different modalities, volumes and/or intensities as appropriate to the health state or medical condition. Importantly, exercise therapy is often directed at several physiological systems simultaneously, rather than targeted to a single outcome as is generally the case with pharmacological approaches to disease management. There are diseases for which exercise is an alternative to pharmacological treatment (such as depression), thus contributing to the goal of deprescribing of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMS). There are other conditions where no effective drug therapy is currently available (such as sarcopenia or dementia), where it may serve a primary role in prevention and treatment. Therefore, this consensus statement provides an evidence-based rationale for using exercise and PA for health promotion and disease prevention and treatment in older adults. Exercise prescription is discussed in terms of the specific modalities and doses that have been studied in randomised controlled trials for their effectiveness in attenuating physiological changes of ageing, disease prevention, and/or improvement of older adults with chronic disease and disability. Recommendations are proposed to bridge gaps in the current literature and to optimise the use of exercise/PA both as a preventative medicine and as a therapeutic agent.