Mª Teresa Tomás

Body composition changes over three years in older adults: a descriptive longitudinal analysis

Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy (FAP): The relevance of muscle mass Maria Teresa Tomás 1,2; Xavier Melo 2.3; Élia Mateus 4; Eduardo Barroso 4; Helena Santa-Clara 2 1 Lisboa Higher School of Health Technology (ESTeSL) at Lisbon Polytechnique Institute (IPL); 2 – Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Human Performance (CIPER) at Faculdade de Motricidade Humana (FMH) – Universidade de Lisboa (UL); 3Ginásio Clube Português; 4 – Hepatobiliopancreatic and Transplantation Centre at Hospital Curry Cabral (HCC), Lisboas of the 10th International Conference on Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle Wasting, Rome, Italy, 8–10 December 2017 (Part 1) 1-01 Body composition changes over three years in older adults: a descriptive longitudinal analysis Maria Teresa Tomás, Alejandro Galán-Mercant & Beatriz Fernandes Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Portugal, Universidade de Jaén, Spain, 2GHRG—Gerontology and Geriatric Health Research Group Introduction: Many studies analyse body composition changes in older adults. However, few studies analyse body composition in elderly people with functional measures. Studies using Double X-Ray analysis (DXA) or Bioimpedance analysis proved to be reliable but expensive or only possible in a laboratory environment. The purpose of our study was to analyse changes in body composition over three years using anthropometric measures in a sample of elderly people in order to perceive functional changes. Methods: Forty-three participants (12 men; 31 women) aged 60 years and over and independent in activities of daily life were assessed using anthropometric measures in a first moment and past three years. Weight, height, waist and hip circumference were measured, and body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were also calculated. Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) was also calculated using Al-Gindan et al. (2014) equations and normalized for height to found skeletal muscle index (SMI) in order to analyze cut-off points associated with physical disability according to Janssen et al (2004). Results: A significant difference was found over three years in SMM (p = 0.007), SMI (p = 0.027), BMI (p = 0.041) and WHR (p = 0.003). The majority of the participants has decreased SMM, SMI and BMI and increased WHR, which favors a worst prognostic for comorbidities associated with these variables, and a tendency for sarcopenic obesity seems to be present although more studies are needed. Also, we found that using cut-off points for disability risk 83.3% of the men and 38.7% of the women of our sample were at moderate or high risk of disability. Three years later this percentage has increased but only for women to 54.8%. Conclusions: Although men are at risk of disability, women quickly lose their functional capacity, making necessary a rapid intervention to reduce the risk of disability in this population. IPL/2016/SFQ2017_ESTeSL 1-02 Prevalence of cachexia in dogs with congestive heart failure Pamela L. Bay, Lisa M. Freeman & John E. Rush Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, North Grafton, MA, USA Background and Aims: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a common, naturally occurring disease in pet dogs that is often associated with cardiac cachexia, as defined by a loss of muscle. One study of dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and CHF showed that 54% of dogs were affected by cachexia. No studies have been conducted to confirm these findings in dogs with DCM or to assess prevalence in CHF from other forms of heart disease causing CHF. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine prevalence of cardiac cachexia in dogs with CHF due to acquired heart disease. Methods: Dogs with CHF evaluated by the Cardiology Service at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine between June 2015 and June 2017 were eligible. Dogs with DCM and myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) were enrolled. Data from the medical records were retrospectively reviewed, including body weight, body condition score (BCS), and muscle condition score (MCS). Body condition score, which assesses fat stores, was measured on a 1–9 scale, with 1 = emaciated, 9 = obese, and 4–5 considered ideal. Muscle condition was categorized using the World Small Animal Veterinary Association scoring system as normal muscle, mild muscle loss, moderate muscle loss, or severe muscle loss. Results: Median age of the dogs (n = 196) was 10.7 years (range, 1.7–18.0 years). Underlying diseases included MMVD (n = 168) and DCM (n = 28). Mean body weight was 7.6 kg (range, 2.4–75.8 kg). Only 6.1% of dogs were underweight (BCS < 4/9), and 41.8% of dogs were overweight or obese

Sarcopenia, balance and risk of falling in a sample of Portuguese community-dwelling older adults

Our sample consisted of 128 older adults (95 women, 33 men), aged 65-97 years, independent and living in Loures municipality, Portugal. Functional physical fitness was assessed with Senior Fitness Test Battery. Predicted distance was calculated with Troosters et al (1999) equation. Grip strength was assessed with hydraulic dynamometer Jamar® and functional capacity with the Composite Physical Function (CPF) Scale. A basic descriptive analysis was conducted (statistical package SPSS IBM for Windows, v22) and the sample was stratified by age. BACKGROUND AND AIMSBackground: Cancer cachexia has a negative impact on the quality of nlife of both patients and their informal caregivers but there are few npsychoeducational interventions to address this. This study is the nfirst step in the development of a workshop to support patients with ncancer cachexia and their carers. nMethods: Interviews were carried out with 5 patients, 5 carers and 5 nhealth care professionals (HCPs) to create two logic models, one to nidentify the antecedents (root causes) of why unintentional weight nloss is difficult for people with cancer and one for why it is difficult nfor their informal caregivers. The maps were supplemented with ndata from previously conducted semi-structured interviews with 39 npatients and 12 HCPs and from systematic reviews of the patient nand carer literature. Members of the project advisory panel rated nthe importance and changeability of each antecedent in the context nof a workshop. The highest scoring antecedents were grouped to nform intervention targets. nResults: A total of 54 antecedents were identified for patients and 65 nfor carers, with 15 patient antecedents and 14 for carers scoring nabove the mean for both importance and changeability. Not knowing nwhat to do for the best, conflict with each other and negative emo- ntions were high scoring patient and carer antecedents. Forcing self to neat rated highly for patients. Food provision and managing patient’ s ndependency rated highly for carers. The high scoring antecedents nwere grouped together to form three intervention targets: providing ninformation about eating well with cancer, resolving conflict and ndealing with negative emotions. nConclusion: Interviews and literature reviews have guided the inter- nvention targets for a workshop on cancer cachexia aimed at both pa- ntients and their carers. Three areas, important and amenable to nchange, were identified. The workshop will educate, aid coping and nprovide relationship support.

Functionality and functional capacity in a community-dwelling older adults in Portugal

Our sample consisted of 128 older adults (95 women, 33 men), aged 65-97 years, independent and living in Loures municipality, Portugal. Functional physical fitness was assessed with Senior Fitness Test Battery. Predicted distance was calculated with Troosters et al (1999) equation. Grip strength was assessed with hydraulic dynamometer Jamar® and functional capacity with the Composite Physical Function (CPF) Scale. A basic descriptive analysis was conducted (statistical package SPSS IBM for Windows, v22) and the sample was stratified by age. BACKGROUND AND AIMSBackground: Cancer cachexia has a negative impact on the quality of nlife of both patients and their informal caregivers but there are few npsychoeducational interventions to address this. This study is the nfirst step in the development of a workshop to support patients with ncancer cachexia and their carers. nMethods: Interviews were carried out with 5 patients, 5 carers and 5 nhealth care professionals (HCPs) to create two logic models, one to nidentify the antecedents (root causes) of why unintentional weight nloss is difficult for people with cancer and one for why it is difficult nfor their informal caregivers. The maps were supplemented with ndata from previously conducted semi-structured interviews with 39 npatients and 12 HCPs and from systematic reviews of the patient nand carer literature. Members of the project advisory panel rated nthe importance and changeability of each antecedent in the context nof a workshop. The highest scoring antecedents were grouped to nform intervention targets. nResults: A total of 54 antecedents were identified for patients and 65 nfor carers, with 15 patient antecedents and 14 for carers scoring nabove the mean for both importance and changeability. Not knowing nwhat to do for the best, conflict with each other and negative emo- ntions were high scoring patient and carer antecedents. Forcing self to neat rated highly for patients. Food provision and managing patient’ s ndependency rated highly for carers. The high scoring antecedents nwere grouped together to form three intervention targets: providing ninformation about eating well with cancer, resolving conflict and ndealing with negative emotions. nConclusion: Interviews and literature reviews have guided the inter- nvention targets for a workshop on cancer cachexia aimed at both pa- ntients and their carers. Three areas, important and amenable to nchange, were identified. The workshop will educate, aid coping and nprovide relationship support.