Relationship between Frailty and Insufficient Nutrient Intake in Older Outpatients at a Frailty Clinic

Abstract

We aimed to clarify the relationship between frailty and insufficient nutrient intake in older outpatients attending a frailty clinic, independent of energy intake. The subjects were 270 patients with a median age of 79 years who had no moderate or severe cognitive impairment, comorbidities requiring protein restriction, or physical dependency. Frailty was evaluated using the J-CHS criteria. Nutrient intake was assessed with a brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire, and adjusted to the required energy intake for each individual. The criteria for sufficient intake of 22 nutrients were based on the Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese. The association between frailty and insufficient nutrient intake was analyzed by the logistic regression model. The dependent variable was nutrient intake deficiency, the independent variable was frailty, and the covariates were age and BMI. We found that there was a significant association between frailty status and insufficient intake of zinc with an odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 2.50 (1.23‐5.06) in women, but not in men. Our results indicate that paying attention to sufficient intake of zinc is an important part of nutritional therapy for frail older women.