Wasting syndrome as a predictive factor for adverse health outcomes in older adults: A prospective cohort study

Wasting syndrome (WS), also known as unintentional weight loss, is defined as a 5% reduction in body weight over a period of 6-12 months. The mortality associated with WS in older adults has not been adequately explored. The objective of this study was to investigate this relationship in hospitalized older individuals over an 18-month period. 175 older adults who were hospitalized were observed for 18 months to observe outcomes such as new hospitalizations within this timeframe, length of hospital stay, and death. Weight loss was defined as the difference between measured weight and self-reported weight over the last 6-12 months. Outcomes were obtained through telephone tracking. WS was observed in 45.7% of older individuals at study baseline, with 46.8% experiencing hospital stays of ≥10 days. 26.9% of these patients died, and 43.4% were rehospitalized during the follow-up. Deaths occurred earlier among patients with WS compared with unexposed individuals (P = 0.028) according to the Kaplan-Meier curve, but in the Cox regression WS was not significantly associated with mortality. In conclusion, a high prevalence of WS was observed in hospitalized older people, with a significant association with functional dependence. Although WS was not an independent predictor of mortality in the multivariate model, it was associated with earlier deaths in the unadjusted survival analysis.