Distribution but not amount of protein intake is associated with frailty: a cross-sectional investigation in the region of Nürnberg

Nutrition Journal

Research

Jürgen M Bauer¹  Matthias J Kaiser²  Cornel C Sieber²  Dorothee Volkert²  Rebecca Diekmann²  Julia Bollwein³  Wolfgang Uter⁴ 

[1] Geriatric Center Oldenburg, Rahel-Straus-Straße 10, 26133, Oldenburg, Germany;Institute for Biomedicine of Aging (IBA), Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Kobergerstr. 60 90408, Nürnberg, Germany;Institute for Biomedicine of Aging (IBA), Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Kobergerstr. 60 90408, Nürnberg, Germany;Korbinianplatz 4d, 80807, Munich, Germany;Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometrics and Epidemiology (IMBE), Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Waldstraße 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany;

关键词: Frailty;    Community living older adults;    Protein intake;    Protein distribution;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2891-12-109

 received in 2013-02-27, accepted in 2013-07-23,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTo preserve muscle mass and therefore limit the risk of disability in older adults protein intake is seen as important factor. Besides the amount of protein, its distribution over the day is thought to affect protein anabolism. This cross-sectional study investigates the association between the amount and distribution of protein intake and frailty in older adults.MethodsIn 194 community-dwelling seniors (≥75 years) amount of protein intake and its distribution over the day (morning, noon, evening) were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Unevenness of protein distribution was calculated as coefficient of variation (CV). Frailty was defined as the presence of at least three, pre-frailty as the presence of one or two of the following criteria: weight loss, exhaustion, low physical activity, low handgrip strength and slow walking speed.Results15.4% of the participants were frail, 40.5% were pre-frail. Median (min.-max.) daily protein intake was 77.5 (38.5–131.5) g, 1.07 (0.58–2.27) g/kg body weight (BW) and 15.9 (11.2–21.8) % of energy intake without significant differences between the frailty groups. The risk of frailty did not differ significantly between participants in the higher compared to the lowest quartile of protein intake. Frail participants consumed significantly less protein in the morning (11.9 vs. 14.9 vs. 17.4%, p = 0,007), but more at noon (61.4 vs. 60.8 vs. 55.3%, p = 0.024) than pre-frail and non-frail. The median (min.-max.) CV of protein distribution was highest in frail (0.76 (0.18–1.33)) compared to pre-frail (0.74 (0.07–1.29)) and non-frail (0.68 (0.15–1.24)) subjects (p = 0.024).ConclusionsIn this sample of healthy older persons, amount of protein intake was not associated with frailty, but distribution of protein intake was significantly different between frail, pre-frail and non-frail participants. More clinical studies are needed to further clarify the relation between protein intake and frailty.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Bollwein et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013