Geriatric Nutritional Index Research Articles

The impact of geriatric nutritional risk index on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients with neoadjuvant therapy followed by esophagectomy.

The Geriatric Nutritional Index (GNRI) has been indicated as a nutritional index which is highly associated with complications and mortality in older hospitalized patients. Moreover, early studies had suggested that GNRI is a potential prognostic indicator for some malignances. However, the prognostic value of GNRI in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients underwent neoadjuvant therapy followed by esophagectomy remains elusive. This retrospective study incorporated 373 patients with ESCC who had underwent neoadjuvant therapy followed by radical esophagectomy at West China Hospital of Sichuan University between April 2011 and September 2021. The GNRI formula was: 1.489 × albumin (g/dl) + 41.7 × current weight/ideal weight. Patients were classified as GNRI-low (GNRI < 98.7) or GNRI high (GNRI ≥ 98.7). The association between GNRI and clinical survival status were assessed utilizing Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox regression analysis. Three hundred and seventy three patients were retrospectively included in this study. 80 (21.5%) and 293 (78.5%) patients had been divided into the GNRI-low and GNRI-high groups respectively. Pathological T stage and the rate of nodal metastasis were significantly higher in the GNRI low group than in the GNRI high group (P = 0.003 and P = 0.001, respectively) among the examined demographic parameters. Furthermore, GNRI was significantly correlated with postoperative complications, patients with lower GNRI had a higher postoperative complication rate as compared with GNRI high group [Odds ratio: 2.023; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.208-3.389; P = 0.007]. Univariate analysis of 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) found that the rate of survival was considerably lower in the GNRI-low group than in the GNRI-high group (P < 0.001). However, multivariate analysis demonstrated that GNRI was not an independent risk factor. In patients with ESCC, low GNRI exhibited a poor nutritional indicator and related to postoperative complications after neoadjuvant therapy. Intensive follow-up after surgery should be performed for ESCC patients with low GNRI.

Clinical Features and Analysis of Survival in a Sample of Patients Infected with SARS-COV-2 in the Specialized Hospital for Geriatric and Palliative Medicine “November 13” – Skopje

BACKGROUND: New worldwide intensive studies of a new virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2) have shown that in its clinical manifestations, the virus has an extremely different expression in different population groups, with age being found to be one of the most common and significant variables. AIM: The objective of this study is to categorize the difference between clinical and laboratory parameters of a sample of patients infected with SARS-COV-2 in the Specialized Hospital for Geriatric and Palliative Medicine “November 13” – Skopje, between survived and deceased patients, impact on the number and severity of comorbidities on the severity of the clinical picture and the survival rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In our study, we analyzed data from a sample of 113 patients hospitalized in our institution. The study is cross-sectional and observational, and in the methodology, we analyzed demographic data by gender and age groups, analysis of comorbidities, functional and nutritional status of patients, and risk factors for mortality and survival rate. For this purpose, we used several geriatric scores: Cumulative Illness Rating Scale scale–Geriatric (CIRS-G), degree of functional ability (Bartel), and the Geriatric Nutritional Index (GNRI) score. RESULTS: The deceased patients had a significantly higher CIRS-G score, while no significant difference in functional (Bartel) and GNRI scores was found. Multivariate regression analysis showed that lymphocytopenia and low saturation were high-risk factors for death in the geriatric population. CONCLUSION: Providing hospital-level care for the elderly with SARS-COV-2 contributes to a lower mortality rate.

Creatinine index as a predictive marker of sarcopenia in patients under hemodialysis.

Sarcopenia is a clinical condition that comprises declined skeletal muscle (SM) mass and SM strength, and is a risk factor for physical disability, impaired quality of life, and advanced morbidity and mortality in patients on hemodialysis (HD). The existing difficulty in evaluating SM mass and consequently of sarcopenia, with affordable and practical methods in clinical practice, is well established. The purpose of this study is to examine the creatinine index (CrI), a surrogate of SM mass, as a potential predictive marker of sarcopenia. In this cross-sectional study, we included 130 patients on HD with a mean age of 66.17 ± 12.47years. SM mass and SM strength were evaluated with CrI and hand grip strength, respectively. Anthropometric, adiposity, nutritional, and biochemical assessments were also performed. Partial correlation and multivariate regression analyses were applied to investigate the association between CrI and SM strength. Correlation analysis showed that mid-arm circumference, calf circumference, Geriatric nutritional index, and albumin-to-total protein ratio were positively associated with SM strength. Multivariate model indicated that CrI (β = 2.05, p < 0.001) and dialysis duration (β =-0.53, p = 0.001) were independently related to SM strength. The significant positive correlation between CrI and SM strength remained unaffected even after adjusting for potential confounders. Creatinine Index was significantly associated with SM strength highlighting its value as a new emerging practical in clinical setting sarcopenia predictive marker in HD patients.

The relationship between blood pressure and cognitive function

BackgroundAlthough an elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) is associated with cognitive dysfunction, BP may decrease with advanced cognitive dysfunction; therefore, we attempted to identify the turning point in the relationship between cognitive function and SBP in elderly subjects. MethodsIn pooled datasets of general populations and outpatient clinics (age>65 years), in which the risk of frailty or cognitive dysfunction was assessed (N = 4076), the relationship between SBP and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was examined. ResultsMean age was 72.5 ± 6.2 years (male 45.1%), and SBP was 133.0 ± 19.5 mmHg. In an analysis of locally weighted scatter plot smoothing, the relationship between SBP and MMSE scores changed at an MMSE score of 24 points. In subjects with preserved cognitive function (MMSE ≥24 points), MMSE scores decreased with increases in SBP (B = −0.047 per 10 mmHg increase, P = 0.002) after adjustments for age, sex, body mass index, alcohol habit, smoking status, diabetes, a history of stroke, and the geriatric nutritional index; however, in subjects with reduced cognitive function (MMSE<24 points), decreases in the MMSE score were associated with reductions in SBP (B = 1.178 per 1 point decrease in the MMSE score, P = 0.002). ConclusionThe relationship between SBP and cognitive function changed at a MMSE score of approximately 24 points (mild to moderate cognitive dysfunction). In patients with preserved MMSE, higher BP values were associated with a reduction of cognitive function, but this was not a case for those with impaired MMSE.

Usual nutritional scores have acceptable sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing malnutrition compared to GLIM criteria in hemodialysis patients

Diagnosing malnutrition by the recently published Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria requires using modern techniques for body composition measurements. We hypothesized that the prevalence of malnutrition identified by usual nutritional scores and according to GLIM criteria may be close to each other due to the number of components shared between them. Our aim was to compare the concurrent validity of four nutritional scores, malnutrition-inflammation score (MIS), objective score of nutrition on dialysis, geriatric nutritional index (GNRI), and nutritional risk index against the GLIM criteria for malnutrition in maintenance hemodialysis patients. This prospective observational study was performed on 318 maintenance hemodialysis outpatients (37% women) with a mean age of 68.7 ± 13.1 years and a median dialysis vintage of 21 months. According to the GLIM criteria, 45.9% of these patients were diagnosed with malnutrition. Nutritional scores, dietary intake and body composition parameters were measured. All nutritional scores showed a strong association with malnutrition in multivariable logistic regression models. In discriminating the nutritional risk, the ROC AUC was largest for GNRI (0.70, 95% CI: 0.65-0.75; P< .001). Nutritional risk index and MIS showed high specificity but lower sensitivity compared to GNRI and objective score of nutrition on dialysis. Compared to MIS, GNRI had better concurrent validity (higher sensitivity and acceptable specificity) but was inferior to MIS in terms of relation to certain etiologic and phenotypic components of the GLIM criteria (specifically, to dietary intake and decrease in dry weight). In summary, of the nutritional scores tested, GNRI is the most sensitive score in identifying malnutrition diagnosed by GLIM criteria, but MIS is more specific and better in predicting the individual components of the GLIM criteria.

Relationship between malnutrition and coronary microvascular dysfunction in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy

Background/ aimMalnutrition is common in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), especially in the end stages of the disease where heart failure symptoms predominate. Malnutrition has been associated with atherosclerosis in patients with chronic kidney disease, but it is unknown whether a similar relationship exists between malnutrition and coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD). In the present study, we aimed to analyse whether indices of malnutrition were associated with coronary flow reserve (CFR) in patients with DCM.Materials and methodsA total of 33 cases who were prospectively followed up with by institutional DCM registry were found eligible for inclusion. Coronary flow reserve was measured with transthoracic echocardiography from the left anterior descending artery. The study sample was divided into 2 groups using a CFR cut-off value of 2.0. Geriatric nutritional index (GNI), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) were calculated.ResultsA total of 17 out of 33 cases (51.5%) had a low (<2.0) CFR. Both GNI and PNI were similar between the 2 groups, but the inflammatory–nutritional parameter CAR was significantly higher in those with a low CFR (1.18 ± 0.64 vs. 0.54 ± 0.28, P < 0.001). CA remained an independent predictor of CFR on multivariate regression (β = 0.65, P < 0.001) after adjustment for demographic (age, sex, body mass index), nutritional (GNI, PNI, albumin), and inflammatory (C-reactive protein) parameters. For a cut-off value of 0.80, CAR had a sensitivity of 85.7% and specificity of 73.6% to predict a CFR <2.0 (AUC: 0.835, 95%CI: 0.693–0.976, P = 0.001).ConclusionsOur findings indicate that not malnutrition per se but a combination of inflammation activation and malnutrition is predictive of CMD in patients with DCM.

The impact of geriatric nutritional risk index on surgical outcomes after esophagectomy in patients with esophageal cancer.

Geriatric Nutritional Index (GNRI) was shown to be closely associated with nutrition-related complications and mortality in elderly hospitalized patients. Impact of GNRI on postoperative outcomes in surgically treated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients has not been evaluated extensively. A total of 240 patients with ESCC who underwent radical esophagectomy with two- or three-field lymphadenectomy between April 2000 and April 2012 were included in this retrospective study. GNRI formula was as follows: 1.489 × albumin (g/dl) + 41.7 × current weight/ideal weight. Patients were categorized as GNRI-low (GNRI < 92) or GNRI-high (GNRI ≥ 92) according to the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves generated for multiple logistic regression analysis using 5-year overall survival as the end point. The impact of GNRI status on short- and long-term outcomes of curative surgery for ESCC was examined. There were 44 (18.3%) and 196 (82.7%) patients in the GNRI-low and GNRI-high groups, respectively. Among the investigated demographic factors, the rate of nodal metastasis and pathological stage were significantly higher in the GNRI-low group than in the GNRI-high group (p < 0.01 and p < 0.01, respectively). Univariate analysis of postoperative complications revealed that the rate of lung complications was significantly higher in the GNRI-low group than in the GNRI-high group (p = 0.024), while GNRI was not an independent risk factor for the development of lung complications by multivariate analysis (Odds Ratio: 1.746; p = 0.126). 5-year overall survival (OS) was significantly lower in the GNRI-low group than in the GNRI-high group (p < 0.01). Moreover, GNRI was an independent prognostic factor for OS [Hazard ratio: 1.687; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.038-2.742; p = 0.035], but not for cancer-specific survival. Analysis with stratification by tumor stage revealed that both OS and Cancer-Specific Survival (CSS) were worse in patients with low GNRI than those with high GNRI only among those with stage III ESCC (34.4% vs. 52.1%, p = 0.049 and 36.1% vs. 57.2%, p = 0.041, respectively). In the stage III ESCC, primary tumor size tends to be greater in the GNRI-low group than in the GNRI-high group (5.69 vs. 4.75cm, p = 0.085) and the incidence of preoperative dysphagia was significantly higher in the GNRI-low group than in the GNRI-high group (74% vs. 45.9%, p = 0.032). GNRI was closely associated with long-term survival after curative surgery in patients with stage III ESCC. Intensive follow-up after surgery should be performed for ESCC patients with low GNRI.

Dietary approach to improving the nutritional status in institutionalized elderly hemodialysis patients with a poor dietary intake: a single-arm pilot study

The hemodialysis (HD) diet, which is a high-calorie and high-fat regimen, may inadvertently lead to an inadequate dietary intake, resulting in undernutrition among elderly HD patients. Therefore, an attempt was made to improve the dietary intake by implementing a modified diet regimen in eligible elderly HD patients. Elderly HD patients who had ingested < 50% of the meals provided and were diagnosed with undernutrition among all elderly patients institutionalized at the special elderly nursing home annexed to Nagasaki Kidney Hospital between June and November 2012. Of the elderly HD patients in the nursing home (n = 27), the study included a total of 7 consecutive patients (male/female, 1/6; mean age, 84.1±6.4 years old; duration of HD, 4.3±3.8 years; geriatric nutritional index [GNRI], 83.5±8.3; normalized protein catabolic ratio [nPCR], 0.78±0.14). The modified diet regimen, which involved reducing food portion sizes and incorporating a liquid diet, led to a significant increase in their dietary intake from 48.1% at baseline to 97.1% of the meals provided 3 months after the start of the modified HD diet regimen. Their GNRI also significantly increased from 83.5±8.3 to 86.1±10.2, and their serum albumin levels significantly increased from 3.2±0.2 g/dL to 3.4±0.4 g/dL, suggesting improvements in their nutritional status. The attempted dietary approach for elderly HD patients was shown to potentially increase their dietary intake and improve their nutritional status without affecting the efficiency of HD being implemented.

Abstract 12880: Malnutrition Assessed by Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index Provides the Long-term Prognostic Information in Patients Admitted for Acute Decompensated Heart Failure, Regardless of Reduced or Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction; A Comparison With Prognostic Nutritional Index and CONUT Score

Backgrounds: Malnutrition is associated with increased mortality risk in patients (pts) with acute decompensated heart failure(ADHF). Nutritional status is assessed by several indices, such as Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI), Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), and Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score. However, there is no information available on the comparison of prognostic significance of these indices in ADHF pts, relating to reduced or preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF or HFpEF). Methods and Results: We studied 303 consecutive pts admitted for ADHF and discharged alive (HFrEF(LVEF&lt;50%);n=163, HFpEF(LVEF≥50%);n=140). Nutritional status was evaluated at the discharge by GNRI calculated as follows: 14.89 • serum albumin (g/dl) + 41.7 • BMI/22, PNI calculated as follows: 10 • serum albumin (g/dl) + 0.005 • total lymphocyte count (/ml) and CONUT score calculated by serum albumin, total cholesterol levels and lymphocyte count. During a follow-up period of 5.0±4.3 yrs, 75 pts had cardiovascular death (CVD). At multivariate Cox analysis, GNRI (p&lt;0.0001) was significantly associated with CVD, independently of systolic blood pressure, serum sodium level and eGFR, although PNI and CONUT score showed a significant association with CVD at univariate analysis. ROC analysis revealed that GNRI of 88 was a fair discriminator for CVD (AUC 0.70(95%CI 0.63-0.77), p&lt;0.0001). In group with HFrEF, CVD was significantly more frequently observed in pts with than without low GNRI &lt;88 (48% vs 25%, p&lt;0.0001, adjusted HR 3.5[1.8-6.6]). Furthermore, in group with HFpEF, pts with low GNRI had the significantly increased risk, compared to those with high GNRI&gt;88 (36% vs 10%, p&lt;0.0001, adjusted HR 3.8[1.4-10.2]). Conclusion: Malnutrition assessed by Geriatric Nutritional Index provides more valuable long-term prognostic information than PNI and CONUT score in pts admitted for ADHF, regardless of HFrEF or HFpEF.

Abstract 12877: Malnutrition Assessed by Geriatric Nutritional Index Provides the Additional Long-Term Prognostic Information to Renal Dysfunction in Patients Admitted for Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

Backgrounds: Renal dysfunction has emerged as one of the most potent prognostic indicators in patients with heart failure. Hospitalization for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) isassociated with a high mortality after discharge. Malnutrition is also associated with poor outcome in ADHF pts. However, there is no information available on the long-term prognostic significance of malnutrition, relating to renal dysfunction in ADHF patients. Methods and Results: We studied 305 consecutive ADHF patients discharged with survival. Nutritional status was evaluated by Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) calculated as follows: 14.89 x serum albumin (g/dl) + 41.7 x body mass index/22. During a follow-up period of 4.2±3.2 yrs, 69 patients had cardiovascular death (CVD). At multivariate Cox analysis, GNRI at discharge (p=0.003) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (p=0.03) were significantlyassociated with CVD, independently of systolic blood pressure, serum sodium level and prior heart failure hospitalization. Receiver-operator curve analysis revealed that GNRI of 88 was a fair discriminator for CVD (AUC 0.698 (95%CI 0.628-0.768), p&lt;0.0001). In patients with renal dysfunction defined as low GFR (&lt;the median value:54.5ml/min/1.73m 2 ), CVD was significantly more frequently observed in pts with than without low GNRI &lt;88 (52% vs 26%, p&lt;0.0001, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR):2.7 (95%CI 1.5-4.8)). Furthermore, in group without renal dysfunction, pts with low GNRI had the significantlyincreased risk, compared to those with high GNRI&gt;88 (28% vs 6%, p&lt;0.0001, the adjusted HR:4.7 (95%CI 1.6-13.4)). Conclusion: Malnutrition Assessed by Geriatric Nutritional Index provides the long-term prognostic information in patients admitted for acute decompensated heart failure, irrespective of renal dysfunction.