Association between nutritional level and leg strength in type 2 diabetic older adults: Fragsalud Project.

Resumen

Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects 10-15% of the Spanish population and causes increased insulin resistance. In this pathology, the risk of frailty with ageing is increased, leading to a higher risk of adverse events. It is especially relevant to promote adequate weight management but also to prevent frail-related risk of malnutrition. Thus, a detriment in functional dependency by increasing strength is encouraged in frail elders with T2D. To determine the impact of malnutrition risk and body mass index (BMI) on the outcomes of the 5- repetitions Sit-to-Stand (STS) Test in pre-frail elders with T2D. Cross-sectional study, which included 22 Spanish older adults over 65 years old (76±8 years) with diagnosed T2D (12 men; 10 women). All participants performed the 5-rep STS Test which that measures the fastest time taken to stand five times from a chair with arms folded to know lower limb function. The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaire was applied to know the nutritional level of the subjects as well as whether they are at risk of malnutrition. Furthermore, weight and height were measured to calculate BMI. The U Mann-Whitney was applied comparing pre-frail diabetics with risk of malnutrition vs. normal nutritional status, and BMI under vs. over 30 kg/m2. Our results showed that the 5 STS time and the mean force STS are associated with the risk of malnutrition assessed through the MNA, with a trend but without statistically significant results (p=0.06). In addition, the mean force values are significant in the U Mann-Whitney test when categorized by BMI (p=0.002). Likewise, differences on average speed and the relative average powerbetween both BMI groups showed a trend (p=0.64, and p=0.64, respectively). Special attention must be paid to nutrition and BMI in order to prevent loss of muscle mass and strength in pre-frail older adults with T2D.