Adductor pollicis muscle and nutritional status in heart failure patients: Is there an association?

• Published in: Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) Vol. 67-68; p. 110536
• Main Authors: Duarte, Rodrigo R., Gonzalez, M. Cristina, Oliveira, Jacqueline F., Oliveira, Patrícia C., Castro, Iran
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2019; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adductor policies muscle thickness; Age; Body mass index; Body size; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Congestive heart failure; Diabetes; Heart failure; Hypertension; Malnutrition; Measurement methods; Medical prognosis; Men; Muscle function; Muscles; Nutrition assessment; Nutritional assessment; Nutritional status; Poisson density functions; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Risk management; Sociodemographics; Socioeconomic factors; Statistical analysis; United States > US; Nutritional assessment; Congestive heart failure; Malnutrition; Adductor policies muscle thickness; Risk factors
• ISSN: 0899-9007; 1873-1244
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2019.06.017

Adductor pollicis muscle thickness (APMT) has been used as a simple index for muscle mass for the assessment of nutritional status among hospitalized patients to identify malnutrition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between APMT and nutritional status in clinical patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF). APMT was measured in 500 patients with CHF on the dominant side. Nutritional status was assessed means of by the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). Functional classification was performed according to guidelines provided by the New York Heart Association (NYHA), which establishes four categories of CHF severity. Poisson regression was used to verify the association of APMT, malnutrition, and severity of CHF. P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The malnutrition prevalence varied from 1.5% in patients with functional class I CHF to 96.2% in patients classified as functional class IV (P ≤ 0.001). In both sexes, APMT values were significantly lower in patients who were malnourished (P< 0.001). The proportion of patients with CHF and malnutrition was higher among women than men (47.2 versus 37.4%, P = 0.027). Malnutrition was slightly more common among patients ≥60 y of age compared with other age groups (48.3%, P ≤ 0.001). APMT is a significant protective factor for malnutrition even after controlling for sex, age, body mass index, and CHF functional class. Malnutrition is highly prevalent among patients with CHF and is associated with functional class. APMT may be used as a simple index for muscle mass for the assessment of nutritional status in these patient populations, and is also associated with malnutrition in these patients, even after controlling for other risk factors. •The prevalence of malnutrition is high (42.2%) in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF).•Patients with CHF functional class III and IV have a higher risk for malnutrition.•Adductor pollicis muscle thickness is significantly lower in malnourished patients with CHF.•Adductor pollicis muscle thickness can be an objective tool for nutritional screening in patients with CHF.