Muscle weakness assessment in older intensive care unit patients

• Autor(a) principal: Lopes,<p>Amanda Colombo Peteck
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Coltro,Paulo Henrique, Lopes,Vagner Jose, Fiori,Sandra Mari Pistore, Knapik,Jaqueline Santana, Boumer</p>,Tatiane Caroline
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Geriatrics, Gerontology and Aging (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://ggaging.com/details/1635
• topic: older adults; muscle weakness; hospitalization; intensive care unit.

<p><b>INTRODUCTION:</b> After long periods of hospitalization, older adults may develop muscle weakness that can affect their functional independence after discharge.<br> <b>OBJECTIVE:</b> To assess muscle weakness in older patients admitted to an ICU.<br> <b>METHOD:</b> This cross-sectional, descriptive study with a quantitative approach assessed functional independence with the Katz Index and post-ICU muscle strength with a handgrip strength (HS) test and the Medical Research Council (MRC) sum-score. The sample consisted of 60 patients with an average age of 76 (60-99) years, 36 (60%) of whom were female.<br> <b>RESULTS:</b> Post-ICU, 86.7% of the patients were functionally dependent. Female patients had significantly lower HS than males: 7 (0-24) vs. 17 (1-37) (p &lt; 0.001). Female patients who received mechanical ventilation (MV) or sedation had significantly lower HS and MRC scores than those who did not (p &lt; 0.001): HS MV 1 (0-13) vs. 11 (0-24) p &lt; 0.001; MRC MV 35 (14-48) vs. 43 (27-57) p &lt; 0.001; HS sedation 0 (0-12) vs. 9 (0-24) p &lt; 0.001; MRC sedation 34 (14-36) vs. 42 (22-57) p &lt; 0.001, respectively. Finally, there was an inversely proportional correlation between HS, MRC scores, and ICU length of stay, Spearman’s rho = -0.267 (p = 0.0039) and Spearman’s rho = -0.347 (p = 0.007), respectively.<br> <b>CONCLUSION:</b> Older women who received mechanical ventilation and sedation have lower muscle strength than those who did not. As the ICU length of stay increases, muscle strength decreases.</p>