Aim: The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship between sarcopenia, as defined by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People, and the recovery of the capability to carry out activities of daily living in convalescent stroke patients who completed a rehabilitation program.
Methods: This retrospective study included consecutive stroke patients admitted to convalescent rehabilitation wards. To determine which patients had sarcopenia, we used the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People criteria. At admission, participants were classified by either the presence or absence of sarcopenia. Baseline characteristics, including the Functional Independence Measure-motor domain score (FIM-M), were retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcome to be explained was the FIM-M at discharge. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine how well a sarcopenia diagnosis and various baseline characteristics could predict the FIM-M score at discharge.
Results: In total, 267 participants (117 women) were included in this study. Of these, 129 (48.3%) were classified as definitely having sarcopenia. Participants with sarcopenia showed lower FIM-M at discharge than those without this condition (median 72 vs 89, P < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analyses exploring determinants of the FIM-M scores showed that a diagnosis of sarcopenia independently predicted them at discharge for men (B -4.957, 95% confidence interval -9.902--0.012), but not for women.
Conclusions: Stroke-related sarcopenia appears to be a predictor of how well male patients can engage in activities of daily living after rehabilitation. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 1124-1128.
Keywords: activities of daily living; rehabilitation; sarcopenia; stroke.
© 2019 Japan Geriatrics Society.