Exploring fraity and sarcopenia in older adults admitted to acute medical unit, looking at prevalence, trajectory, and outcomes: A protocol testing the feasibility and acceptability of the TYSON study

Vicky Kamwa, Thomas Jackson, Zaki Hassan-Smith, Elizabeth Sapey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Frailty and sarcopenia are common in older people and are associated with adverse outcomes including increased mortality and morbidity. It is unclear whether screening for frailty and sarcopenia would identify specific populations most at risk of poor outcomes during unplanned hospital admissions, which screening tools should be used and what the trajectory of both conditions are over the course of an admission. The TYSON study is an observational cohort study aiming to determine the prevalence, trajectory and outcomes associated with frailty and sarcopenia in different patient cohorts. This protocol tests the feasibility and acceptability of TYSON processes.

OBJECTIVES: To determine in acutely admitted medical patients who are older adults: Primary: The feasibility and acceptability of frailty and sarcopenia assessments; Secondary: (1) Differences in community and hospital frailty assessments, as assessed by the medical team, the patient and elderly care physicians, (2) The dynamic changes in frailty and sarcopenia during a hospital admission, and patient outcomes; Exploratory: Inflammatory and metabolic mediators associated with frailty and sarcopenia.

METHODS: A single centre, prospective observational study including patients aged ≥ 65 years admitted to an acute medical unit. Frailty assessments include the Rockwood clinical frailty and e-frailty index. Sarcopenia assessments include the Bilateral Anterior Thigh Thickness (BATT) measurement. Each participant will be asked to complete 5 visits, at day 0, day 3, day 7, month 3 and month 6. Blood samples will be collected to explore inflammatory and metabolic markers associated with frailty and sarcopenia. The study and protocol have been ethically approved by the Health Research Authority (REC 20/WA/0263).

DISCUSSION: The study will determine the feasibility and acceptability of frailty and sarcopenia assessments in an acute hospital setting, and inform on the prevalence, trajectory and associated outcomes of frailty and sarcopenia in this group of patients. An inflammatory and metabolic profile will be explored in frailty and sarcopenia.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0293650
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume18
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Copyright: © 2023 Kamwa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Keywords

  • Aged
  • Humans
  • Sarcopenia/diagnosis
  • Frailty/diagnosis
  • Frail Elderly
  • Prevalence
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Geriatric Assessment/methods
  • Observational Studies as Topic

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Exploring fraity and sarcopenia in older adults admitted to acute medical unit, looking at prevalence, trajectory, and outcomes: A protocol testing the feasibility and acceptability of the TYSON study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this