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1. The Relationship between Multi-dimensional Frailty and Impairment of Activities of Daily Living in Rural Elderly
ZHAO Yi, YANG Jingyuan, YANG Xing, ZHOU Quanxiang, JIANG Yun, HUANG Hui, ZHU Yujie
Chinese General Practice    2024, 27 (01): 79-84.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2023.0428
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Background

Previous studies have confirmed a correlation between physical frailty and impairment of activities of daily living (ADL) in the elderly, but it is still unclear whether there is a correlation of psychological and social frailty in the elderly with their ADL impairment.

Objective

To investigate the multi-dimensional frailty of the elderly in rural areas and the correlation of dimensions with ADL impairment, so as to provide evidence for preventing disability rural older adults.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted, older adults aged ≥60 years from 30 administrative villages in 2 cities of Guizhou Province were selected for the study from July to September 2021 (n=1 298) by using a multi-stage cluster sampling method. The demographic characteristics, prevalence of chronic diseases and sleep quality of the subjects were collected by questionnaire, and the multi-dimensional frailty of the elderly was assessed by Chinese version of Tilburg debilitating scale, ADL scale was used to assess the impairment of ADL in the elderly, multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the effects of multi-dimensional frailty and its dimensions on the impairment of ADL in the elderly, and the multifactor-adjusted population attributable risk percentage (PARc%) was calculated.

Results

Of the 1 298 older adults, 498 (38.37%) were with ADL impairment, 40 (3.08%) were with BADL impairment, 494 (38.06%) were with IADL impairment; 382 (29.43%) were with multi-dimensional frailty, 319 (24.58%) were with physical frailty, 567 (43.68%) were with psychological frailty, and 69 (5.32%) were with social frailty. After adjusting for confounding factors of age, gender, education level, marital status, and sleep quality, the results of binary Logistic regression analysis showed that multi-dimensional frailty, physical frailty, and psychological frailty in older adults had effects on and ADL, BADL and IADL impairments (P<0.05). Further analysis of the population attribution risk of multi-dimensional frailty, physical frailty, and psychological frailty for ADL showed that multi-dimensional frailty had the greatest population attributable risk for BALD impairment [PARc% (95%CI) =24.6 (19.1-27.1) ], psychological frailty had a relatively high population attributable risk for ADL impairment [PARc% (95%CI) =18.4 (12.1-24.5) ], BADL impairment [PARc% (95%CI) =23.6 (3.2-33.7) ], and IADL impairment [PARc% (95%CI) =19.4 (12.4-24.7) ] .

Conclusion

The multi-dimensional frailty, physical frailty and psychological frailty of the rural elderly in Guizhou province are related to the impairment of ADL, BADL and IADL, with greater attribution of psychological frailty for disability. Enhancing screening and interventions for multi-dimensional frailty in older adults, particularly psychological frailty, may reduce the risk of disability in older adults.

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2. Association between Self-rated Health and Frailty among Community-dwelling Older Adults: the Moderating Role of Apathy
TAO Lu, LI Sha, DING Yaping, ZONG Qianxing, GAO Shiying, NIE Zuoting, CHEN Long, WU Yan, YANG Rumei
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (28): 3513-3519.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0841
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Background

Previous studies have shown that self-rated health would be used as a simple assessment indicator for frailty, and individuals with poor self-rated health status are at higher risk of frailty. However, the association between self-rated health and frailty may be different and the effectiveness of self-rated health in frailty assessment may vary in apathetic older adults.

Objective

To explore the moderating role of apathy in the association between self-rated health and frailty among community-dwelling older adults, so as to provide theoretical guidance for the application of the self-rated health in the assessment of frailty in apathetic older adults.

Methods

From November 2021 to March 2022, a total of 384 community-dwelling older adults were selected as respondents by convenience sampling method, including 179 cases in Nanjing Dongshan Community and 205 cases in Lianyungang Qinghu Community. Questionnaire surveys were conducted using the General Information Questionnaire, Fried Frailty Phenotyp (FFP) , Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-3) , and the self-reported health (SRH) . Generalized linear model was used to analyze the association between self-rated health and frailty of community-dwelling older adults. The model 1 of the SPSS macro program process compiled by Hayes was used to analyze the moderating role of apathy on the association between the self-rated health and frailty, with simple slope analyze performed and simple slope graphs plotted.

Results

The median FFP and SRH item scores of 384 community-dwelling older adults were 1.00 (2.00) and 4.00 (1.00) , respectively, with the detection rate of apathy of 55.5% (213/384) . The results of the generalized linear model showed that the relationship between the self-rated health and frailty of community-dwelling older adults was significant (b=0.310, P<0.001) . The results of the moderating effect test showed that apathy played a moderating role in the relationship between self-rated health status and frailty in community-dwelling older adults (b=0.355, t=3.074, P=0.002) , and the results of simple slope analysis showed that the simple slope of the non-apathy group and apathy group was 0.100 (t=1.209, P=0.228) and 0.455 (t=5.206, P<0.001) respectively.

Conclusion

There is an association between self-rated health and frailty in community-dwelling older adults, and the application of the self-rated health can help community health workers assess frailty in older adults. Apathy plays a moderating role in the relationship between self-rated health and frailty. Compared with the non-apathetic older adults, the association between self-rated health and frailty is significant in apathetic older adults. Strengthening the self-rated health assessment of older adults is beneficial to the identification of their frailty.

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3. Prevalence of Frailty in Elderly Patients with Comorbidity: a Meta-analysis
LIN Yang, WANG Fang, WANG Han, WU Rong, WANG Yao, XU Ziyao, WANG Xu, WANG Yanding
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (25): 3185-3193.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0521
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Background

The prevalence of comorbidity in the elderly is showing a rising trend year by year with the acceleration of population aging. Comorbidity is a key risk factor for frailty in the elderly. Then frailty only increases the risk of adverse health outcomes for patients with comorbidity, but also significantly increases their family medical expenses. It has a certain guiding value for the management of comorbidity to identify the frailty conditions of elderly patients with comorbidity as early as possible.

Objective

To systematically review the prevalence of frailty in elderly patients with comorbidity.

Methods

CNKI, VIP, CBM, WanFang, PubMed, EmBase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were searched in December 2021 for the investigation studies on the current status of frailty in elderly patients with comorbidity published from inception to December 4, 2021. Two researchers performed literature screening and data extraction independently. The cross-sectional study quality rating scale and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) recommended by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) were used to assess the risk of bias of the included studies and Stata 14.0 was adopted for meta-analysis.

Results

A total of 25 studies involving 16 062 elderly patients with comorbidity were included. Meta-analysis results showed that the prevalence of frailty and pre-frailty in elderly patients with comorbidity was 26.7%〔95%CI (21.9%, 31.5%) 〕and 47.7%〔95%CI (43.9%, 51.4%) 〕. Subgroup analysis showed that the prevalence of frailty in older adults with≥2, ≥3, ≥4, and≥5 chronic diseases was 25.1%〔95%CI (19.3%, 30.8%) 〕, 27.4%〔95%CI (13.7%, 41.0%) 〕, 60.7%〔95%CI (29.0%, 92.4%) 〕, and 23.5%〔95%CI (8.6%, 38.5%) 〕, respectively. The prevalence of frailty in elderly patients with comorbidity in Oceania (52.1%) and Asia (31.3%) were significantly higher than Europe (16.9%) and South America (13.2%) . The prevalence of frailty in elderly patients with comorbidity in hospital (26.2%) was significantly higher than community (23.2%) . The prevalence of frailty in elderly patients with comorbidity screened by Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) , Fried frailty phenotype scale and FRAIL Scale was 42.8%〔95%CI (38.4%, 47.1%) 〕, 22.2%〔95%CI (17.8%, 26.7%) 〕and 8.5%〔95%CI (6.3%, 10.6%) 〕, respectively. The prevalence of frailty in elderly patients surveyed in 2001—2010, 2011—2015, and 2016—2020 was 21.0%〔95%CI (13.2%, 28.8%) 〕, 19.0%〔95%CI (13.1%, 24.8%) 〕and 37.7%〔95%CI (22.6%, 52.9%) 〕, respectively.

Conclusion

The prevalence of frailty in elderly patients with comorbidity is gradually increasing, with differences by number of co-morbidities, continents, assessment tools and study sites. Therefore, relevant personnel should pay attention to early screening of frailty in elderly patients with comorbidity and take timely measures to prevent the development of frailty in elderly patients with comorbidity.

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4. Intervention of Baduanjin Combined with Cognitive Training on Cognitive Frailty in Elderly Diabetic Patients: a Clinical Study
YANG Liu, WANG Xiaoyun, YAN Huinan
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (23): 2848-2853.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2023.0148
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Background

At present, there are few intervention studies on cognitive frailty in elderly diabetic patients. This study aims to explore the application effect of Baduanjin combined with cognitive training in elderly diabetic patients with cognitive frailty, in order to provide reference for the management of this population.

Objective

To explore the intervention effect of Baduanjin combined with cognitive training on elderly diabetic patients with cognitive frailty.

Methods

A total of 84 elderly diabetic patients with cognitive frailty hospitalized in the Department of Endocrinology, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital from October 2021 to April 2022 were selected as research subjects by convenient sampling method, and randomly divided into the experimental group (n=42) and the control group (n=42) according to the random number table method. The patients in the experimental group received Baduanjin exercise combined with cognitive training, 3 times per week for 12 weeks; patients in the control group were given routine exercise and health education. General data of the patients were collected, including gender, age, education level, marital status, residential status, personal monthly income, type of medical insurance and number of comorbid chronic diseases. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score, Frailty Phenotype (FP) score, gait speed, grip strength and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were compared at baseline, 6 weeks and 12 weeks of intervention between the two groups.

Results

During the study period, 3 cases were lost to follow-up in the control group and 2 cases were lost in the experimental group, a total of 79 patients were finally included (39 cases in the control group and 40 cases in the experimental group) . There was no significant difference in the general data between the two groups (P>0.05) . There were interaction effects of group and time on MoCA score, FP score, gait speed and grip strength (P<0.05) . MoCA score of patients in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group at 12 weeks of intervention (P<0.05) , and higher than that at baseline and 6 weeks of intervention (P<0.05) . FP score of patients in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group at 12 weeks of intervention, and lower than that at baseline and 6 weeks of intervention (P<0.05) . Gait speed and grip strength of patients in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group at 12 weeks of intervention, and higher than those at baseline and 6 weeks of intervention (P<0.05) . HbA1c level of patients in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group, and lower than that at baseline at 12 weeks of intervention (P<0.05) .

Conclusion

Baduanjin combined with cognitive training can slow down the decline of cognitive function in elderly diabetic patients, improve physical frailty and reduce the blood glucose level of patients, which is suitable for vigorously promoting in the clinical and community settings.

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5. A Scoping Review of Frailty Assessment Tools for Elderly Orthopedic Inpatients
QIN Lanfang, GUO Wenxi, WANG Rui, LIU Chongbin
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (23): 2864-2870.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0866
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Background

With the aggravation of population aging in China, the number of elderly perioperative orthopedic patients is increasing, and the growing prevalence of frailty in older patients undergoing orthopedic surgery has attracted increasing attention. Early preoperative assessment and intervention of frailty are of great significance for improving postoperative prognosis and reducing the occurrence of complications in this population.

Objective

To perform a scoping review of frailty assessment tools for elderly orthopedic inpatients, and to provide a reference for the selection of frailty assessment tools for this group.

Methods

Seven databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Embase, CNKI and Wanfang Data) were searched for studies on frailty assessment tools for older orthopedic inpatients from 2006 to 2021. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted the basic characteristics of the literature (the flint author, publication time, country, basic information, research tools and outcome indicators) and the basic characteristics of involved frailty assessment tools (name, study country, study type, scale dimension, number of items, assessment cut-off value, assessment time, etc.) .

Results

A total of 1733 studies were retrieved, and 25 of them with 12 frailty assessment tools were included. The analysis showed that there are a variety of assessment tools, and different studies have used different frailty assessment tools. Frailty Phenotype and Frailty Index are the two common tools. The application of accurate and effective tools for frailty screening is crucial to improving preoperative risk stratification and postoperative prognosis. Frailty assessment using the Reported Edmonton Frail Scale, FRAIL Scale, PRISMA-7 Questionnaire or the Groningen Frailty Index can be completed without the use of additional measuring equipment and surveyors with an experience of training.

Conclusion

The selection of an optimal frailty assessment tool for elderly orthopedic inpatients should be in accordance with patient features, clinical resources and the performance of the tool. However, there is still lack of a gold standard for frailty assessment. Future studies are needed to assess the reliability and validity of existing frailty assessment scales or to develop frailty assessment tools applicable to Chinese older orthopedic inpatients.

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6. Association between Baseline Fasting Plasma Glucose Levels and Risk of Acute Pancreatitis in Non-obese Population: a Prospective Cohort Study
SU Afang, ZHU Guoling, ZHANG Yunshui, CHEN Shuohua, ZHAO Xiujuan, YANG Wenhao, WANG Yinjie, WANG Fengfei, XIN Yingying, WU Shouling, ZHANG Jie, JIANG Xiaozhong
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (18): 2203-2208.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0884
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Background

Previous studies have shown that the risk of acute pancreatitis (AP) is increased in obesity population, while obese patients are often combined with abnormal fasting plasma glucose (FPG). It still remians controversial whether FPG independently increases the risk of AP and the relationship between FPG and the risk of AP in non-obese patients has been rarely reported in China and abroad.

Objective

To explore the association between baseline FPG level and the risk of AP in non-obese population.

Methods

Using a prospective cohort study method, a total of 102 512 non-obese cases from the Kailuan study cohort who completed physical examination for the first time in KaiLuan General Hospital and its 10 affiliated hospitals from 2006 to 2009 were enrolled as study subjects. Epidemiological data, anthropometric data, laboratory test indicators and other information of the subjects were collected. The study subjects were divided into 4 groups according to the FPG quartile: the first quartile group (group Q1, FPG≤4.66 mmol/L, n=25 929) ; the second quartile group (group Q2, 4.66 mmol/L≤FPG<5.10 mmol/L, n=25 797) ; the third quartile group (group Q3, 5.10 mmol/L≤FPG<5.67 mmol/L, n=25 162) ; the fourth quartile group (group Q4, FPG≥5.67 mmol/L, n=25 624). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot the survival curves of new-onset AP in non-obese population. The cumulative incidence of AP in non-obese population in different FPG level groups were calculated and Log-rank method was used for inter-group test. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors for the new-onset AP in non-obese population and the correlation between different FPG level groupings and new-onset AP in non-obese population.

Results

The median follow-up time in this study was (12.8±2.4) years with the cumulative incidence of 320 cases and incidence density of 2.44 cases per 10 000 person-years in AP. There were statistically significant differences in the cumulative incidence of AP among the 4 FPG level groups (χ2=13.96, P<0.001). The results of Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that advanced age〔HR=1.02, 95%CI (1.01, 1.03), P=0.001〕, high triacylglycerol (TG) level〔HR=1.22, 95%CI (1.13, 1.30), P<0.001〕, history of cholithiasis〔HR=2.79, 95%CI (1.88, 4.13), P<0.001〕were risk factors for new-onset AP in non-obese population. Years of education ≥9 years〔HR=0.65, 95%CI (0.47, 0.90), P<0.001〕was the protective factor for new-onset AP in non-obese population. The HR for new-onset AP in group Q4 was 1.40 〔95%CI (1.02, 1.92), P=0.038〕. After excluding the population applying hypoglycemic drugs, the conclusions were unchanged, the HR for new-onset AP in group Q4 was 1.40 〔95%CI (1.02, 1.92), P=0.036〕.

Conclusion

Advanced age, high TG levels, and history of cholithiasis are risk factors for new-onset AP, years of education ≥9 years is the protective factor for new-onset AP. And the risk of AP increases when FPG ≥5.67 mmol/L in non-obose population.

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7. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in Frail Older People: Thoughts on Application
WU Minjie, WU Shenhui, YAN Yuru
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (13): 1655-1660.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0590
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As China enters an ageing society, the number of elderly people is rising sharply, resulting in a continuous increase in the cost and burden of caring for the elderly. Frailty is an important cause of loss of self-care ability and elderly care problems in elderly people, which means that frailty is associated with a decline not only in physiological functions, but in multiple areas as well, such as mental ability and socioeconomic functioning, and is considered an important geriatric syndrome that affects the quality of life of the elderly. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary assessment process or model specifically for elderly patients. As a core tool in geriatric medicine, it uses a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approach to assess the physical condition, functional status, mental health and social environment status of the elderly, and accordingly a treatment plan is developed to maintain and improve the functional status of the elderly and enhance their quality of life to the most extent. However, the use of CGA is not entirely consistent in China and abroad. This paper reviews the existing studies on frailty in the elderly, analyses the advantages and shortcomings of CGA used in frail elderly patients, and finds that interventions for frail patients at home and abroad have been valued increasingly. The development of domestic interventional studies on frailty is still in the initial stage, and most of these studies use a design of a randomized controlled trial with a sample of chronic disease inpatients. In contrast, such studies have been widely carried out abroad, in which CGA has been applied to the management of cancer patients and patients in the perioperative period besides chronic disease patients and frail community-dwelling older people. The frailty status in the elderly can be scientifically and comprehensively assessed by the CGA, and based on which targeted interventions can be implemented to prevent or delay the development of frailty, but it is generally time-consuming, and there are many difficulties in the management of the assessment recipients. In the future, it is necessary to advance the clinical application of CGA, or develop a more rapid, comprehensive and authoritative tool based on CGA for frailty assessment in the elderly, so as to provide comprehensive and personalized medical services and health guidance for frail elderly population through standardised assessment.

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8. Effects of Protein Supplementation on Muscle Mass, Strength, and Physical Function in Frail/Pre-frail Older Adults: a Meta-analysis
GUO Yinning, MIAO Xueyi, JIANG Xiaoman, XU Ting, XU Qin
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (23): 2854-2863.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0699
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Background

Frailty can increase the risk of negative health-related outcomes in older adults. Protein supplementation may be an effective way to improve frailty, but there is disagreement about its effects on frailty.

Objective

To systematically evaluate the effects of protein supplementation on muscle mass, strength, and physical function in frail/pre-frail older adults.

Methods

Electronic databases of CNKI, Wanfang Data, CQVIP, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and Medline were retrieved for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the effects of protein supplementation on muscle mass, strength and physical function in frail/pre-frail older adults published from inception to June 2022. After literature screening, the quality of eligible RCTs was evaluated, and from which relevant data were extracted. RevMan 5.4 was performed to explore the effects of protein supplementation on muscle mass, muscle strength and physical function in frail/pre-frail older adults. And for the outcome indicator of muscle strength (grip strength) , due to large amount of reported literature, this study will be based on the amount of protein supplementation (<30 g/d subgroup and≥30 g/d subgroup) , frailty status (pre-frailty subgroup, frailty subgroup, frailty and pre-frailty subgroup) , frailty assessment tool 〔frailty phenotype assessment tool (FP) subgroup and non-FP subgroup〕, population (Asian subgroup and European subgroup) , and mean age (70-<75 years subgroup, 75-<80 years subgroup, and 80-<85 years subgroup) for subgroup analysis to further explore the effect of protein supplementation on grip strength in different subgroups.

Results

A total of 12 RCTs were included (2 literatures for pre-frailty, 3 literatures for frailty, 7 literatures for frailty and pre-frailty) , with a total of 833 older adults (422 in the protein supplementation group and 411 in the control group) . Meta-analysis results showed that protein supplementation improved gait speed in frail/pre-frail older adults〔MD=0.03, 95%CI (0, 0.06) , P=0.05〕, but in improving muscle mass (appendicular lean mass) , muscle strength (grip strength) , other physical functions (assessment results of balance test, the timed up and go test, Short Physical Performance Battery) and frailty scores, the differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05) . The results of subgroup analysis showed that the effect of protein supplementation on the grip strength of the Asian population subgroup was significantly different from that of the European population subgroup in between-group comparisons (χ2=5.76, P=0.02) .

Conclusion

Protein supplementation may improve gait speed in frail/pre-frail older adults, but it does not show a significant advantage in improving their muscle mass, muscle strength and other physical functions. It is recommended to further investigate the effects of longer durations of supplementation, different types of protein supplemented, different amounts of supplementation and different regional populations on older adults with different frailty states, in order to find the best pattern of protein supplementation and provide a more sufficient evidence-based basis for frailty management.

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9. Correlation between Nutrition-related Parameters and Frailty among Older Adults in the Emergency Department
SHANG Na, WANG Na, LIU Huizhen, LIU Lushan, WANG Yahui, GUO Shubin
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (23): 2842-2847.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0829
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Background

As an important modifiable factor that can be intervened, nutrition is closely related to the occurrence of frailty. Early identification of frailty through nutrition evaluation and reversal of its occurrence is of great significance for improving clinical outcomes. There are few available studies on the predictive value of nutrition-related parameters for frailty among older patients in the emergency department (ED) .

Objective

To evaluate the relationship between commonly used nutrition-related parameters and frailty among older adults in the ED.

Methods

Two hundred and ten people aged≥65 years were recruited from the Department of Emergency Medicine, China Rehabilitation Research Center (Beijing Bo'Ai Hospital) from January to October 2021. The demographic data were recorded. Fasting venous blood sample was collected within 24 hours after admission to measure routine indicators. The nutritional risk was assessed by Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002) . The basic activities of daily living were evaluated by Barthel Index (BI) . The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) was used to assess frailty, and individuals with CFS levels 1-4 (n=68) and those with CFS levels 5-9 (n=142) were assigned to non-frail group and frail group, respectively. Multivariable Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors associated with frailty in older patients in the ED. Hosmer-Lemeshow test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to evaluate the predictive validity of nutrition-related parameters for frailty in older patients in the ED. Nonparametric DeLong test was used to compare the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of each parameter.

Results

There were statistically significant differences between frail and non-frail patients in mean age, sex ratio, mean body mass index (BMI) , prevalence of coronary heart disease, mean levels of hemoglobin (HGB) , albumin (ALB) , prealbumin (PA) , high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D〔25 (OH) D〕, and mean score of NRS2002, as well as mean BI and length of hospital stay (P<0.05) . Multivariable Logistic regression analysis showed that higher PA〔OR=0.943, 95%CI (0.891, 0.998) , P=0.041〕 and 25 (OH) D〔OR=0.909, 95%CI (0.844, 0.979) , P=0.012〕were protective factors of frailty in older patients in the ED. The risk of frailty decreased by 44.6% for every 100 mg/L increase in PA, and decreased by 61.7% for every 10 μg/L increase in 25 (OH) D. However, higher NRS2002 score〔OR=1.701, 95%CI (1.353, 2.138) , P<0.001〕was the risk factor of frailty in older patients in the ED, and the risk of frailty increased by 70.1% for every one score increase in NRS2002 score. Hosmer-Lemeshow test showed PA (χ2=6.120, P=0.634) , 25 (OH) D (χ2=5.386, P=0.716) and NRS2002 score (χ2=4.758, P=0.446) had good goodness of fit. ROC analysis demonstrated showed that the optimal cutoff values of PA, 25 (OH) D and NRS2002 score for predicting frailty in older patients in the ED were 211.9 mg/L, 7.06 μg/L and 3 points, respectively, and the AUCs of them were 0.749, 0.670 and 0.835, respectively. Nonparametric DeLong test showed that the AUC of NRS2002 score was greater than that of PA (Z=2.241, P=0.025) and 25 (OH) D (Z=3.400, P<0.001) .

Conclusion

As frail patients have poor nutritional status, nutritional assessment contributes to early identification of frailty. Among the nutrition-related parameters, PA, 25 (OH) D and NRS2002 score can effectively predict frailty in older patients in the ED, and NRS2002 score may have the strongest predictive ability.

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10. Associated Factors of Frailty in Cancer Patients: a Meta-analysis
GUO Yinning, MIAO Xueyi, JIANG Xiaoman, XU Ting, XU Qin
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (08): 989-996.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0773
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Background

Frailty is common in cancer patients, which seriously affects their prognosis. However, the factors associated with frailty in cancer patients are not clear at present.

Objective

To identify the factors associated with frailty in cancer patients by a meta-analysis, to provide a scientific basis for the development and implementation of related interventions.

Methods

The databases of China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), CQVIP, WanFang Data, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and Embase were comprehensively and systematically searched from inception to August 2022 for included cross-sectional studies, cohort studies or case-control studies reporting associated factors of frailty in cancer patients. Two researchers screened the literature and performed quality evaluation and data extraction. Stata 17.0 and RevMan 5.4 were used for meta-analysis.

Results

Eleven studies were included, among which nine were cross-sectional studies and the other two were cohort studies. Altogether, 2 898 cancer patients were studied, among whom 1 025 were frail, and 12 associated factors of frailty were reported. Meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of frailty in all cancer patients, lung cancer patients, digestive cancer patients, and other cancer patients was 34%〔95%CI (23%, 45%) 〕, 31%〔95%CI (25%, 36%) 〕, 42%〔95%CI (26%, 59%) 〕, and 12%〔95%CI (9%, 16%) 〕, respectively. The risk of frailty in cancer rose with advanced age〔OR=1.16, 95%CI (1.05, 1.27) 〕, combined with other diseases〔OR=1.46, 95%CI (1.28, 1.67) 〕, high BMI〔OR=1.13, 95%CI (1.05, 1.21) 〕, poor nutritional status〔OR=2.77, 95%CI (1.27, 6.06) 〕, high syndrome group scores〔OR=1.07, 95%CI (1.04, 1.09) 〕and depression〔OR=1.27, 95%CI (1.12, 1.44) 〕, but decreased with high education level〔OR=0.78, 95%CI (0.68, 0.90) 〕, albumin level≥35 g/L〔OR=0.33, 95%CI (0.12, 0.90) 〕and high level of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) 〔OR=0.50, 95%CI (0.42, 0.59) 〕. Egger's test assessing the potential publication bias in 11 studies via funnel plot asymmetry showed that there was a certain publication bias (t=-4.12, P=0.003) .

Conclusion

This meta-analysis revealed that age, education level, comorbidity, BMI, albumin, nutritional status, syndrome group, depression and IADL were the associated factors of frailty in cancer patients. It is necessary for health professionals to pay more attention to cancer patients with advanced age, low education level, combined with other diseases, high BMI, albumin level <35 g/L, poor nutritional status, with syndrome group, depression or low-level activities of daily living, so as to prevent the occurrence of frailty.

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11. Advances in Multiomic Analyses of Frailty Biomarkers in the Elderly
XU Ting, JI Minghui, CHEN Yimeng, GAO Yu, ZHU Hanfei, DING Lingyu, XU Qin
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (23): 2871-2876.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0743
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Early diagnosis of frailty is of great value in helping the elderly to regain their health, as it is a non-specific state of reduced physiological reserve, resistance to disease and ability to recover from stress caused by the impairment in homeostasis maintained by multiple systems with sarcopenia as the basic characteristic. Recent developments in multiomic techniques provide new approaches to the detection of potentially specific, stable and reliable biomarkers of pre-frailty. We collected and reviewed recent advances in multiomic techniques for identifying frailty biomarkers, involving genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, which can assist in assessing the risk of frailty, exploring potential mechanisms of frailty and developing targeted interventions to support healthy aging.

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12. Perceived Influencing Factors of Preoperative Frailty among Elderly Patients with Gastric Cancer from the Perspective of Health Ecology: a Qualitative Study
DING Lingyu, JIANG Xiaoman, MIAO Xueyi, CHEN Li, ZHU Hanfei, LU Jinling, HU Jieman, XU Xinyi, XU Qin
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (08): 972-979.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0732
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Background

Preoperative frailty is a severely unhealthy status that reflects the reduction of overall physiological reserve, which is highly prevalent in elderly patients with gastric cancer. Understanding the perceived influencing factors of preoperative frailty can provide an important basis for developing individualized intervention plans.

Objective

To perform a qualitative descriptive study to identity the perceived influencing factors of preoperative frailty among elderly gastric cancer patients using the theory of health ecology.

Methods

A qualitative descriptive study was conducted based on health ecology theory. Purposive sampling method was used to select 29 frail elderly patients who would undergo gastric cancer surgery in the First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University from February to June 2021 for semi-structured interview. Directed content analysis was used for data analysis.

Results

Five themes and thirteen sub-themes were extracted: physiological traits, including accumulated aging-related losses, obvious gastrointestinal symptoms, and successive attacks of multiple diseases; behavioral characteristics, including lack of exercise behavior and overexertion; interpersonal networks, including insufficient peer social interaction, lack of parent-child interaction, and lack of communication and self-disclosure between couples; living and working conditions, including heavy individual financial burden, heavy unplanned family care tasks, insufficient information resources for health and disease management; macro factors, including limited medical services and medical insurance support.

Conclusion

This study described the effects of different perceived factors on preoperative frailty among elderly gastric cancer patients from the perspective of health ecology. Medical workers should formulate and implement systematic prehabilitation programs based on the above factors to improve the patients' preoperative anti-stress capacity and postoperative outcomes.

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13. Study on the Predictive Value of Abdominal Fat Content and Distribution in the Acute Pancreatitis and Its Severity
HU Xiaofei, ZHAO Ping, CAO Tinghua, PENG Lanlan
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (21): 2614-2619.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0735
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Background

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common acute abdominal abdomen, and severe AP has considerable mortality. Early and accurate identification of AP is critical for the prevention, treatment and prognosis evaluation of AP. Studies have shown that obesity is associated with the incidence and clinical outcome of AP. However, there is a lack of obesity-related quantitative indices for the diagnosis and evaluation of AP.

Objective

To investigate the relationship of abdominal fat content and distribution with AP and its severity, providing a scientific basis for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of AP.

Methods

One hundred AP patients (including 75 with non-severe AP and 25 with severe AP) and 100 non-AP patients〔AP was diagnosed by Chinese Guidelines for the Management of Acute Pancreatitis (Shenyang, 2019) 〕were selected from Department of General Surgery, the Southwest Hospital of AMU from January 2019 to June 2021. Clinical data were collected, including sex, age, underlying disease (hypertension, diabetes or hyperlipidemia) , history of biliary tract disease, BMI, areas of CT-assessed abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) , visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and total abdominal adipose tissue (TAT) , and calculated VAT/SAT ratio and VAT/TAT ratio. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with AP and its severity. ROC analysis was conducted to estimate the diagnostic value and efficiency of BMI, and indices related to abdominal fat content and distribution for the prevalence and severity of AP.

Results

The proportion of BMI and hyperlipidemia in AP group was higher than that in non-AP group (P<0.05) . VAT, TAT, VAT/SAT and VAT/TAT in AP group were higher than those in non-AP group (P<0.05) . VAT, TAT, VAT/SAT and VAT/TAT in severe AP subgroup were higher than those in non-severe AP subgroup (P<0.05) . Multivariate Logistic analysis showed that BMI〔OR=1.985, 95%CI (1.616, 2.438) 〕, VAT〔OR=1.126, 95%CI (1.088, 1.165) 〕, TAT〔OR=1.028, 95%CI (1.019, 1.038) 〕 were associated with AP (P<0.05) . BMI〔OR=7.543, 95%CI (2.576, 22.088) 〕and TAT〔OR=1.074, 95%CI (1.038, 1.111) 〕were associated with the severity of AP (P<0.05) . For predicting AP, the AUC of BMI was 0.833〔95%CI (0.777, 0.888) , P<0.001〕, with 90.0% sensitivity and 62.0% specificity when the optimal cut-off value was chosen as 17.610 kg/m2; the AUC of VAT was 0.939〔95%CI (0.909, 0.969) , P<0.001〕, with 84.0% sensitivity and 89.0% specificity when the optimal cut-off value was chosen as 104.250 cm2; the AUC of TAT was 0.800〔95%CI (0.739, 0.860) , P<0.001〕, with 83.0% sensitivity and 66.0% specificity when the optimal cut-off value was chosen as 184.995 cm2. When it comes to predicting the severity of AP, the AUC of TAT was 0.910〔95%CI (0.844, 0.976) , P<0.001〕, with 84.0% sensitivity and 84.0% specificity when the optimal cut-off value was chosen as 201.357 cm2, and the AUC of BMI was 0.928〔95%CI (0.856, 1.000) , P<0.001〕, with 88.0% sensitivity and 89.3% specificity when the optimal cut-off value was chosen as 21.180 kg/m2.

Conclusion

CT-assessed abdominal fat content and distribution may be closely associated with AP and its severity. It is suggested to include CT quantitative measurement of abdominal fat content and distribution in the AP diagnosis, severity assessment and treatment system since the two indicators reflect relevant information that could be used as scientific evidence.

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14. Preoperative Frailty and Postoperative Adverse Outcomes among Elderly Patients with Gastric Cancer
MIAO Xueyi, DING Lingyu, LU Jinling, HU Jieman, ZHU Hanfei, CHEN Li, XU Xinyi, XU Qin
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (08): 980-988.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0740
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Background

Due to great differences in physiological reserve, psychological status and social functioning, frailty in elderly patients with gastric cancer may present various subtypes. The relationship between preoperative frailty and postoperative adverse outcomes in them still remains to be further explored.

Objective

To explore the relationship between preoperative frailty subtypes and postoperative adverse outcomes〔total complications, prolonged length of stay (PLOS), low quality of life (QOL), and disability〕among elderly patients with gastric cancer.

Methods

From March to October 2021, 404 elderly gastric cancer patients were selected from Department of Gastric Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University by convenience sampling. The General Demographic Data Questionnaire and Tilburg Frailty Indicator were used to collect demographics and frailty status before surgery. Total complications and PLOS were collected from the electronic medical records, and the status of disability and QOL were obtained using a telephone follow-up at one month after discharge. Univariate Logistic regression was performed to explore the influencing factors of postoperative adverse outcomes. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the association of preoperative frailty subtypes with postoperative adverse outcomes, with potential confounders adjusted.

Results

Two hundred and eighty-five cases were found with preoperative frailty, and the frailty subtypes in them were classified into eight classes: exclusive physical frailty〔77 (19.1%) 〕, exclusive psychological frailty〔78 (19.3%) 〕, exclusive social frailty〔23 (5.7%) 〕, physical and psychological frailty〔63 (15.6%) 〕, physical and social frailty〔13 (3.2%) 〕, psychological and social frailty〔16 (4.0%) 〕, multidimensional frailty (physical, psychological, and social frailty) 〔15 (3.7%) 〕. The other 119 (29.5%) cases had no preoperative frailty. In the univariate Logistic regression, age was the factor influencing total complications〔OR=1.063, 95%CI (1.021, 1.106), P=0.003〕. History of pharmacological treatment〔OR=1.549, 95%CI (1.016, 2.362), P=0.042〕and surgical approach〔OR=2.103, 95%CI (1.191, 3.712), P=0.010〕were the factors influencing PLOS. Marital status〔OR=4.611, 95%CI (1.079, 19.706), P=0.039〕, living in an urban area〔OR=1.614, 95%CI (1.009, 2.582), P=0.046〕, having at least two comorbidities〔OR=1.694, 95%CI (1.038, 2.766), P=0.035〕were the factors influencing postoperative low QOL. Living in an urban area〔OR=0.601, 95%CI (0.390, 0.926), P=0.021〕, history of pharmacological treatment〔OR=1.663, 95%CI (1.082, 2.558), P=0.020〕, and advanced TNM stages〔OR=1.659, 95%CI (1.017, 2.706), P=0.043〕were the factors influencing postoperative disability. In the multivariate Logistic regression, the preoperative multidimensional frailty was independently associated with total complications, with age adjusted〔OR=5.344, 95%CI (1.715, 16.656), P=0.004〕. The preoperative physical frailty〔OR=2.048, 95%CI (1.078, 3.891), P=0.029〕, preoperative psychological frailty〔OR=2.077, 95%CI (1.103, 3.913), P=0.024〕and preoperative multidimensional frailty〔OR=8.321, 95%CI (2.400, 28.848), P<0.001〕were independently associated with PLOS, with history of pharmacological treatment and surgical approach adjusted. Preoperative psychological frailty〔OR=2.620, 95%CI (1.267, 5.418), P=0.009〕, preoperative psychological and social frailty〔OR=11.122, 95%CI (3.253, 38.028), P<0.001〕and preoperative multidimensional frailty〔OR=11.579, 95%CI (2.835, 47.302), P<0.001〕were independently associated with postoperative low QOL, with marital status, living in an urban area, and having at least two comorbidities adjusted.

Conclusion

Medical professionals should pay attention to preoperative frailty prevalence in elderly gastric cancer patients, and assess preoperative frailty in these patients using tools with the multidimensional frailty scale included, and attach great importance to those with exclusive physical frailty, exclusive psychological frailty, psychological and social frailty, and multidimensional frailty before surgery. A targeted prerehabilitation intervention program can be delivered to those with preoperative frailty according to their subtypes of frailty to improve postoperative adverse outcomes and QOL.

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15. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte Ratio and Red Cell Distribution Width as Potential Biomarkers of Frailty: a Scoping Review
GOU Dengqun, ZHANG Lu, XU Yuanli, JIANG Mingjiao, WU Hemei, TAO Ming
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (17): 2169-2175.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0647
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Background

Frailty is associated with aging, which has recently become a health issue needs to be addressed urgently in the aging population. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and red cell distribution width (RDW) are novel inflammatory markers that are readily available clinically. Understanding the association of them with frailty is helpful to identify and monitor the development of frailty. There are few studies on the association of NLR and RDW with frailty, and they are not appropriate for traditional meta-analysis due to great heterogeneity between the study results.

Objective

To perform a scoping review of studies on NLR and RDW as potential biomarkers of frailty, so as to provide a reference for clarifying the pathogenesis of frailty and developing or improving frailty-related assessment tools.

Methods

Studies on the association of NLR and RDW with frailty were searched in eight databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP and SinoMed) from inception to March 1, 2022. The studies on NLR and RDW as potential biomarkers of frailty was independently screened by two investigators, and the first author, publication time, country or region of publication, sample information, study methods, assessment tools, and assessment results were extracted. The quality of the literature was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the AHRQ checklist for cross-sectional studies.

Results

A total of fourteen studies were enrolled, including five cross-sectional studies, four longitudinal studies, one cohort study and four case-control studies, which were all rated≥4 points in terms of methodological quality, indicating that they were high quality. Nine studies examined the association between NLR and frailty, and seven of them showed that elevated NLR was independently associated with increased risk of frailty, and could predict its progression. Seven studies analyzed the association between RDW and frailty, and five of them showed that elevated RDW was independently associated with increased risk of frailty, and could predict its progression.

Conclusion

Some studies have shown that the risk of frailty increased with the elevation of NLR or RDW in different populations, and its progression could be predicted by NLR or RDW. As potential biomarkers of frailty, NLR and RDW could provide evidence for the pathogenesis of frailty, and a new theoretical basis for the development or improvement of frailty assessment tools. However, the optimal cut-off value of both for predicting frailty in different age groups and sex groups needs to be studied further.

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16. Mediating Effect of Frailty on the Association between Apathy and Fall Risk in Older Adults in the Community
TAO Lu, ZENG Kai, NIE Zuoting, ZONG Qianxing, CHEN Long, WU Yan, YANG Rumei
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (12): 1444-1449.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0620
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Background

Older adults with apathy have a high risk of falls and are prone to repeated falls . Few interventions could achieve satisfactory effects on improving apathy, although improved apathy is associated with a reduced risk of falls. Improving frailty may be a new method for reducing the risk of falls in older adults with apathy.

Objective

To investigate the mediating effect of frailty between apathy and risk of falls in older adults in the community, so as to provide a new idea for reducing the fall risk in this group.

Methods

A total of 212 community-dwelling older adults were selected to attend a survey by convenience sampling from November 2021 to March 2022, including 128 from Dongshan Community Health Center, Nanjing, and 84 from Qinghu Town, Donghai County, Lianyungang. A self-developed Demographic Information Questionnaire, the Fried Frailty Phenotype (FFP) , Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-3) , Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths & Injuries Tool Kit (STEADI) were used to collect demographics, frailty prevalence, apathy prevalence, and risk of falls, respectively. The intermediary role of frailty in apathy and fall risk was analyzed.

Results

One hundred and ninety-two cases (90.6%) who responded effectively to the survey were included for analysis. The average total STEADI score, average total GDS-3 score, and FFP score of the respondents were 2.0 (0, 4.0) , (1.6±0.9) , and 0 (0, 2.0) , respectively. Fifty-six (29.2%) and other 136 cases (70.8%) were assessed with and without fall risk, respectively. Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that apathy was positively correlated with frailty and fall risk, (rs=0.303, 0.388, P<0.05) , and frailty was positively correlated with fall risk (rs=0.424, P<0.05) . The analysis using intermediary Model 4 showed that apathy had a significant positive effect on fall risk (B=1.011, t=5.207, P<0.05) ; apathy significantly positively influenced frailty (B=0.324, t=3.800, P<0.05) ; frailty had a significant positive effect on fall risk (B=0.679, t=4.173, P<0.05) . Bootstrap test showed that the effect size of frailty in the path of "apathy→frailty→fall risk" was 0.22 〔95%CI (0.08, 0.40) 〕, indicating that frailty played a mediational role between apathy and risk of falls. Apathy could directly affect the fall risk, and could indirectly affect the fall risk through frailty. The total effect was 1.01, in which the size of direct effect was 0.79, the size of mediator effect was 0.22 (accounting for 21.78%) .

Conclusion

Frailty may be a mediator between apathy and fall risk in older adults in the community, and improving frailty is an important way to reduce risk of falling.

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17. Serum Metabolomic Study on the Difference between Mild and Severe Acute Pancreatitis Based on Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry
HUANG Xiangping, WU Ling, TAN Chaochao
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (09): 1118-1124.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0451
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Background

Mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) has a certain probability of transforming into severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) . Once SAP occurs, it will cause greater harm to patients. It is meaningful for diagnosis and treatment of pancreatitis to explore the transformation mechanism between MAP and SAP.

Objective

This study aimed to explore the differential metabolites, abnormal metabolic pathways and potential biomarkers between MAP and SAP, thus providing reference for early diagnosis and treatment of SAP.

Methods

This study collected 68 AP patients who were hospitalized in Hunan Provincial People's Hospital from August 2020 to March 2021. These 68 patients were divided into MAP group (n=40) and SAP group (n=28) based on the 2012 Revised Atlanta Classification (RAC) criteria. This study used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) , and screened out the differential metabolites between the two groups by using univariate analysis (T test, FC) , multivariate analysis (PCA, PLS-DA) , VIP>1, FC >1.5, and P<0.05, thus analyzing the differential metabolites and metabolic pathways between the two groups.

Results

PCA and PLS-DA analyses found that the metabolic profiles of MAP and SAP were significantly different. Combined with VIP>1, FC>1.5, and P<0.05, 50 differential metabolites and 5 metabolic pathways were screened between the two groups, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, and terpenoid skeleton biosynthesis were the two largest metabolic pathways. Combination with receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) , there were 8 differential metabolites with area under the curve (AUC) >0.9, including 2-phenyl -1, 3-propanediol monocarbamate, diphenhydramine N-glucuronic acid, rac-5, 6-epoxy-retinoyl-β-D-glucuronic acid, hexafluoroisopropanol, NNAL -N-glucuronic acid, erythritol tetranitrate, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone. Six of them elevated in patients with severe pancreatitis, including 2-phenyl-1, 3-propanediol monocarbamate, rac-5, 6-epoxy-retinoyl-β-D-glucuronic acid, hexafluoroisopropanol, erythritol tetranitrate, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone. Two of them decreased, including diphenhydramine N-glucuronic acid, NNAL-N-glucuronic acid.

Conclusion

There were significant differences in serum metabolites between MAP and SAP patients, 2-phenyl-1, 3-propanediol monocarbamate, diphenhydramine N-glucuronic acid, rac-5, 6-epoxy-retinoyl-β-D-glucuronic acid, hexafluoroisopropanol, NNAL-N-glucuronic acid, erythritol tetranitrate, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, and tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone have the larger differential diagnosis efficacy of MAP and SAP. They may be the potential biomarkers between distinguishing MAP and SAP.

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18. Recent Advances in Pathogenesis and Mechanism of Action of Exercise Regarding Frailty in Older Adults with Hypertension
LIU Yameng, YANG Xiaoli, ZHANG Caihong
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (05): 635-640.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0484
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Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome that has become a great public health concern in China with the acceleration of population aging. Hypertension and frailty often coexist in older adults, leading to multiple adverse health outcomes. We reviewed recent advances in epidemiology of frailty in older people with hypertension, and its pathogenesis involving inflammatory response, oxidative stress, insulin resistance and hormone metabolism, and the possible mechanisms of action of exercise in improving it, then summarized that relevant studies on mechanisms of action of exercise in enhancing frailty in older people with hypertension are still insufficient, and the mechanism of action varies by the type of exercise. Further research could explore the targets and effects of different types of exercise in improving frailty in older people with hypertension.

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19. Risk Factors of Cognitive Frailty in Hospitalized Older Patients with Comorbidities and Its Implication for Patient Outcomes
YAN Xuedan, CHEN Shanping, ZHOU Lihua, WANG Lingxiao, YANG Yongxue, REN Yan
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (31): 3877-3883.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0154
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Background

Cognitive frailty is a cognitive impairment state between normal aging and dementia. Cognitive frailty is associated with higher possibility of negative clinical events than simple frailty or cognitive impairment in older people. As cognitive frailty could be reversible toa certain degree, early identification of high-risk groups and timely intervention are particularly important in reducing adverse prognoses and improving the quality of life of elderly patients in their later years.

Objective

To investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of cognitive frailty, and its relationship with two-year post-discharge mortality in hospitalized elderly patients with comorbidities.

Methods

The data were collected from part of the project "Research and Demonstration of Clinical Management and Community-based Continuing Care Models for Older People with Comorbidities", involving a cluster sample of older inpatients with comorbidity aged≥60 years recruited from Department of Gerontology, Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital from November 2015 to January 2018. Demographics, chronic disease prevalence, and comprehensive geriatric assessment results were collected. Cognitive frailty was assessed by the FRAIL scale and Mini-Mental State Examination. Binary Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of cognitive frailty. The survival status was investigated at the end of a two-year follow-up after discharge. Cox regression was used to analyze the relationship of cognitive frailty with two-year post-discharge mortality.

Results

A total of 554 cases were included, and 15.9% (88/554) of them had cognitive frailty. Compared with non-cognitive frailty group, cognitive frailty group had older average age, lower prevalence of high school education or above, lower average family care score, higher prevalence of malnutrition, depression, dependence in activities of daily living and balance dysfunction (P<0.05) . Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that malnutrition, balance dysfunction, and family care disorder were independent factors of cognitive frailty. During the follow-up period, 456 patients (82.3%) survived, 81 (14.6%) died, and 17 (3.1%) were lost to follow-up. After controlling for confounding factors, Cox regression analysis indicated that, the risk of two-year post-discharge mortality in cognitive frailty group was 2.039〔95%CI (1.060, 3.922) 〕times higher than that of those with normal cognitive function and non-frailty, and was 5.266〔95%CI (3.159, 8.778) 〕times higher than that of those with simple cognitive frailty (P<0.05) .

Conclusion

Cognitive frailty is common among elderly inpatients with comorbid conditions, and it can increase the relative risk of two-year post-discharge mortality. Clinical medical workers should pay more attention to this group to identify high-risk individuals of cognitive frailty as soon as possible and give them preventive interventionsin time.

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20. Risk Factors for Acute Kidney Injury in Severe Acute Pancreatitis: a Meta-analysis
Meiying CHEN, Muxin CHEN, Mingxin WANG, Chanmei ZHENG, Wanzhu CAI, Aixin LIANG, Chunjiao ZHOU
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (30): 3834-3842.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0452
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Background

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication and a key poor prognostic factor in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) . It is rather challengeable to prevent and treat AKI in SAP, but early assessment and intervention of related risk factors can prevent or delay its development.

Objective

To systematically analyze the risk factors of AKI in SAP.

Methods

Databases of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang Data, CQVIP and SinoMed were searched for articles about the risk factors of AKI in SAP from inception to January 2022. Two researchers independently performed literature screening according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction, and methodological quality assessment. RevMan 5.4 and Stata 15.1 were employed for Meta-analysis.

Results

In total, 21 studies were included, including 3 823 patients. Meta-analysis demonstrated that being male〔OR=1.42, 95%CI (1.21, 1.68) , P<0.001〕, drinking history〔OR=1.51, 95%CI (1.14, 2.01) , P=0.004], higher APACHE Ⅱ score〔MD=5.69, 95%CI (2.95, 8.44) , P<0.001〕, Ranson score〔MD=2.58, 95%CI (2.27, 2.88) , P<0.001〕, and CTSI score〔MD=1.48, 95%CI (0.17, 2.80) , P=0.030〕; increased lencocyte count〔MD=0.96, 95%CI (0.47, 1.44) , P<0.001〕, IL-33〔MD=28.36, 95%CI (19.05, 37.67) , P<0.001〕, CRP〔MD=17.38, 95%CI (12.39, 22.38) , P<0.001〕, Scr〔MD=49.50, 95%CI (24.80, 74.19) , P<0.001〕, PCT〔MD=6.74, 95%CI (3.36, 10.12) , P<0.001〕, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) 〔MD=18.31, 95%CI (11.82, 24.80) , P<0.001〕, and serum lactate〔MD=0.87, 95%CI (0.27, 1.46) , P=0.004〕; prevalence of hypoxemia〔OR=9.42, 95%CI (4.81, 18.44) , P<0.001〕, hypertension〔OR=1.35, 95%CI (1.06, 1.72) , P=0.010〕, diabetes〔OR=1.56, 95%CI (1.20, 2.04) , P<0.001〕, and coronary heart disease〔OR=3.20, 95%CI (1.41, 7.24) , P=0.005〕; use of mechanical ventilation〔OR=5.00, 95%CI (2.76, 9.07) , P<0.001〕; prevalence of shock〔OR=11.60, 95%CI (3.37, 39.91) , P<0.001〕, infection〔OR=5.78, 95%CI (3.10, 10.79) , P<0.001〕, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) 〔OR=7.28, 95%CI (3.56, 14.88) , P<0.001〕, abdominal bleeding〔OR=5.51, 95%CI (1.38, 22.09) , P=0.020〕, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) 〔OR=9.61, 95%CI (4.14, 22.27) , P<0.001〕, and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) 〔OR=5.79, 95%CI (3.75, 8.93) , P<0.001〕; long stay in the ICU〔MD=8.77, 95%CI (2.76, 14.79) , P=0.004〕were risk factors of AKI in SAP.

Conclusion

Male, drinking history, higher APACHEⅡ score, Ranson score and CTSI score, elevated inflammatory markers (lencocyte count, IL-33, CRP, Scr, PCT, NGAL) and elevated serum lactate, underlying disease prevalence (hypoxemia, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease) , use of mechanical ventilation, prevalence of shock, infection, MODS, abdominal bleeding, ARDS, and ACS, long stay in the ICU may be risk factors for AKI in SAP. Clinical medical workers should early identify and intervene SAP patients with the above-mentioned risks, so as to reduce the incidence of AKI.

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21. Effects of Potentially Inappropriate Medications on Frailty in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Community
Simeng WANG, Lian MA, Junwei ZHANG, Limei ZHOU, Yuanyuan XU, Ying ZHANG, Chenyu WANG, Lina WANG
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (25): 3107-3113.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0109
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Background

Both frailty and potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) are relatively highly prevalent in adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the community, but the association of PIM with frailty in MCI population remains to be further explored.

Objective

To examine the association between PIM and frailty in older adults with MCI in the community.

Methods

This study was conducted between March to July 2021. By use of multistage sampling, older adults with MCI (n=230) were recruited from Baohe District, Hefei City. Sociodemographics, lifestyle indicators and physical functions of the subjects were collected by using the General Information Questionnaire developed by our research team. Frailty was assessed by the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument. PIM was assessed by the 2017 Criteria of Potentially Inappropriate Medications for Older Adults in China. Logistic regression analysis was applied to analyze the association of the number and types of PIM with frailty.

Results

The prevalence of frailty and PIM in these older adults with MCI was 59.1% (136/230) and 59.1% (136/230) , respectively. The prevalence of PIM in the frailty group was much higher than that of non-frailty group〔80.9% (110/136) vs 27.7% (26/94) 〕 (P<0.05) . Multivariate Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that compared with MCI older adults without PIM, the risk of frailty was 4.591 times higher in those with only one PIM〔95%CI (1.903, 11.076) 〕, and 8.859 times higher in those with two or more PIMs〔95%CI (2.589, 30.321) 〕. Compared with MCI older adults with neurological disease but without PIM, the risk of frailty was 5.310 times higher in those with PIM〔95%CI (1.011, 27.877) 〕. The risk of frailty was 3.108 times higher in those with cardiovascular disease and PIM than that in those without PIM〔95%CI (1.173, 8.241) 〕.

Conclusion

The prevalence of frailty and PIM was higher in older adults with MCI in the community, and PIM was significantly associated with frailty. To decrease the prevalence of frailty and delay the progression of dementia in this population via reducing the prevalence of PIM, community-based health efforts should be made to strengthen the screening for frailty, enhance the identification of frailty related to medication use, and promote medication review and management.

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22. Trajectories and Influencing Factors of Somatic Symptom Clusters in Frail Elderly People in Nursing Homes: a Longitudinal Study
Chenxi WU, Jing GAO, Qin LIAO, Jiali HE
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (25): 3122-3129.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0261
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Background

The somatic symptom clusters may be associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes in frail elderly people. Relevant studies in China have mainly adopted a cross-sectional design with neglect of the trajectory of somatic symptom clusters in this group.

Objective

To explore the characteristics of somatic symptom clusters at different time points and influencing factors in elderly people with frailty in nursing homes in Chengdu.

Methods

From November 2019 to January 2020, 206 frail elderly people were selected from 6 nursing homes in Chengdu by convenience sampling, and surveyed using the general data questionnaire and Memory Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) for 3 times〔at baseline (T0) , 6 (T1) , and 12 months later (T2) 〕. Exploratory factor analysis was carried out for symptoms with an incidence of ≥20% at different time points. Latent growth mixture model (LGMM) was used to identify the change trajectory of somatic symptom clusters across the above-mentioned three time points. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the potential factors associated with the trajectory category.

Results

By exploratory factor analysis, 5 factors were extracted at each of the three time points. Neurological symptom cluster, energy deficiency symptom cluster, respiratory symptom cluster and digestive symptom cluster all appeared at the three time points. In addition, senescence-related symptom cluster also occurred at T0 and T1, and other symptom cluster occurred at T2. The MSAS score of each symptom cluster differed significantly across three time points (P<0.05) . Four heterogeneous trajectories of frailty symptom clusters were obtained by LGMM model fitting, which were named as "high decline" "low rise" "medium maintenance" and "high rise", accounting for 16.5%, 12.5%, 66.0% and 5.0%, respectively. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the number of chronic diseases was independently associated with the "high decline" or "high rise" trajectory, and the number of medications was independently associated with the "high rise" trajectory (P<0.05) .

Conclusion

There are various trajectories of somatic symptom clusters in frail elderly people in nursing homes, and each of the trajectories has a different independently associated factor. To provide more appropriate services for this population, medical workers in nursing homes can dynamically adjust nursing services according to the trajectories and associated factors of somatic symptom clusters.

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23. Baseline Triglyceride and Risk of Acute Pancreatitis in a Nonobese Health Check-up Population: a Prospective Cohort Study
Afang SU, Yinjie WANG, Fengfei WANG, Xiujuan ZHAO, Yingying XIN, Shuohua CHEN, Guoling ZHU, Shan WANG, Xiaozhong JIANG, Jie ZHANG, Shouling WU
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (26): 3240-3245.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0215
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Background

Hypertriglyceridemia has been increasingly valued as a risk factor for acute pancreatitis (AP) . However, the relationship between obesity and AP has not yet been confirmed, whether baseline triglyceride (TG) affects the risk of AP in non-obese people is still inconclusive.

Objective

To explore the association between baseline serum triglyceride (TG) and the risk of AP in a nonobese cohort from Kailuan Group.

Methods

A prospective cohort study was performed among in-service and retired workers of Kailuan Group (non-obese, without a history of AP, with complete TG information) who first attended the annual health screening for workers of the group as a benefit conducted between 2006 and 2007 or between 2008-2009. The cumulative incidence of AP across serum TG tertile groups: 〔Q1 group (TG≤0.96 mmol/L) , Q2 group (0.96 mmol/L<TG<1.52 mmol/L) , Q3 group (TG≥1.52 mmol/L) 〕was described using Kaplan-Meier curve, and compared by the Log-rank test. The new AP event, death or the end of follow-up (December 31, 2020) was taken as the end point of follow-up. Cox regression model was used to estimate the association of baseline TG levels and new incidence of AP.

Results

The study included a total of 102 358 subjects. Q1, Q2 and Q3 groups had significant differences in sex ratio, average age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC) , low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) , and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) , and prevalence of smoking, drinking, previous hypertension, previous diabetes, previous cholelithiasis, as well as having at least 9 years of education (P<0.05) . Three hundred and sixteen cases developed AP during an average follow-up of (12.8±2.4) years, with an incidence density of AP of 2.41 per 10 000 person-years. The incidence density was 1.82, 2.22, and 3.17 per 10 000 person-years in Q1, Q2, and Q3 groups, respectively. The cumulative incidence of AP was 2.33%, 2.85% and 4.07%, respectively, in Q1, Q2, and Q3 groups, with statistically differences detected by the log-rank test (χ2=17.27, P<0.001) . By the analysis based on COX regression model 3, the HR of developing AP in Q3 group was 1.66〔95%CI (1.25, 2.19) 〕times higher than in Q1 group after adjusting for sex, age, HDL-C, TC, smoking, drinking, education level, history of hypertension, history of diabetes and history of cholelithiasis, and it was 1.68〔95%CI (1.25, 2.24) 〕times higher than in Q1 group after further excluding the cases suffering from AP within 1 year of follow-up.

Conclusion

A baseline serum TG level of ≥ 1.52 mmol/L may increase the risk of AP in nonobese people.

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24. Hereditary Pancreatitis in Children: Report of One Case with Pedigree Analysis and Literature Review
HE Xiaoli, LIANG Shuheng, LI Miaoxia, KONG Jinliang, SHAN Qingwen
Chinese General Practice    2023, 26 (05): 641-646.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0338
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Hereditary pancreatitis (HP) is a rare autosomal genetic disease that is often manifested by recurrent pancreatitis and complicated type 3c diabetes mellitus (T3cDM) , and even leads to pancreatic cancer, impairing the quality of life and prognosis of patients. We reported a child with HP caused by p.Val39Ala (V39A) mutation of the PRSS1 gene with a pedigree analysis, which is the first case report in China, hoping to provide clinicians with evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of HP.

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25. Recent Developments in Oral Frailty in the Elderly
PAN Qi, DAI Fumin, PAN Weiyu, LIU Jiamin, CHEN Ruojuan
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (36): 4582-4587.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0268
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Oral frailty has been recently suggested as a novel construct defined as a decrease in oral function with a coexisting decline in cognitive and physical functions, which is associated with many adverse events in older adults, such as frailty, sarcopenia, disability, and mortality. We reviewed the definition, symptoms, diagnosis criteria, assessment tools of oral frailty in older people, and summarized its recent research status as well as possible influencing factors, then suggested that future research on oral frailty in older Chinese adults could be carried out in aspects involving developing oral frailty assessment tools appropriate for older Chinese people, implementing survey studies on oral frailty, enriching study designs and contents and enhancing oral frailty intervention studies.

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26. Acute Pancreatic Infarction Caused by Malignant Hypertension: a Case Report
Yun BAI, Dingxin WANG, Yanzhao SUN, Jimin ZHENG, Jian ZHANG, Yuzhen WANG, Gaifang LIU
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (23): 2942-2946.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0044
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Malignant hypertension is a common hypertensive emergency, which generally progresses rapidly, often affects important target organs such as the heart, brain, and kidney, leading to organ insufficiency. Malignant hypertension may develop serious complications, among which thrombotic microangiopathy is mainly characterized by impaired tissue and organ functions due to thrombosis in the microcirculation, with critical condition and poor prognosis generally. Pancreatic involvement in malignant hypertension is rare, whose prognosis may be extreme poor and mortality may be high due to insufficient understanding of it, and lack of clinical evidence on its early diagnosis and treatment. We reported the diagnosis and treatment of a case of acute pancreatic infarction caused by malignant hypertension, aiming at providing a reference for clinical practice.

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27. Efficacy of Enteral Nutrition within 24 Hours of Admission in Severe Acute Pancreatitis: a Meta-analysis
Qianqian WANG, Jian ZHOU, Zhiwei JIANG, Guanwen GONG
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (24): 3057-3064.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.02.077
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Background

Enteral nutrition (EN) is one important clinical treatment for severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) , but the optimal timing of initiation remains controversial.

Objective

To evaluate the efficacy of EN within 24 hours of admission in the treatment of SAP by applying a Meta-analysis.

Methods

Databases of PubMed, EMBase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data and SinoMed were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about efficacies of usual care and EN within 24 hours of admission (experimental group) versus usual care in combination with EN or oral eating after 24 hours of admission or parenteral nutrition immediately after admission (control group) in SAP patients included from inception to July 2021. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software.

Results

A total of 13 RCTs involving 1 193 patients were included. Meta-analysis results revealed that, compared to usual care with control interventions, usual care with EN within 24 hours of admission had better effects on reducing the mortality〔RR=0.61, 95%CI (0.39, 0.95) , P=0.03〕, incidence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) 〔RR=0.56, 95%CI (0.36, 0.86) , P=0.009〕and incidence of pancreatic infections〔RR=0.55, 95%CI (0.33, 0.91) , P=0.02〕, and post-treatment APACHE Ⅱ score〔MD=-2.18, 95%CI (-2.55, -1.80) , P<0.000 01〕. Further subgroup analysis indicated that, usual care with EN within 24 hours of admission was superior to usual care with parenteral nutrition immediately after admission in decreasing the mortality〔RR=0.28, 95%CI (0.11, 0.73) , P=0.009〕, incidence of MODS〔RR=0.40, 95%CI (0.20, 0.79) , P=0.009〕and pancreatic infections〔RR=0.50, 95%CI (0.25, 0.98) , P=0.04〕.

Conclusion

Available evidence showed that, EN within 24 hours of admission had better efficacy for SAP, and initiating EN within 24 hours of admission may be beneficial to the treatment of SAP.

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28. Correlation between Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio, Platelet to Lymphocyte Ratio and Severity of Biliary Acute Pancreatitis and Concurrent Liver Injury
Guohao LIAO, Bin CHENG, Hongyu YU, Shang XIONG, Li XU, Lidong WU, Hua ZHANG, Hang DU
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (12): 1449-1454.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.02.141
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Background

Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have proved to have a certain significance in predicting the severity of pancreatitis, however, at present, there are few relevant studies on the diagnostic and predictive value of NLR and PLR for liver injury in biliary acute pancreatitis (BAP) .

Objective

To explore the correlation between NLR and PLR in the severity of BAP and the concurrent acute liver injury (ALI) .

Methods

A total of 142 patients with BAP admitted to Emergency Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from March 2019 to March 2021 were selected and divided into mild (MAP) /moderately (MSAP) group (n=98) and severe (SAP) group (n=44) according to Atlanta classification. According to whether the liver function is damaged or not, they were divided into ALI group (n=92) and non-ALI group (n=50) . The ALI group was further divided into hepatocyte type liver injury subgroup (n=1) , bile duct type liver injury subgroup (n=16) and mixed type liver injury subgroup (n=75) . The general condition and clinical data of patients were collected, and the predictive value of NLR and PLR on the severity of BAP and concurrent ALI was explored by the ROC curve and binary Logistic regression analysis.

Results

The NLR and PLR in MAP/MSAP group were lower than those in SAP group (P<0.05) . The NLR and PLR in ALI group were higher than those in non-ALI group (P<0.05) . There was no significant difference in NLR and PLR between bile duct type liver injury subgroup and mixed type liver injury subgroup (P>0.05) . The area under the ROC curve of NLR, PLR and their joint prediction of SAP was 0.809, 0.667, 0.809, respectively. The area under the ROC curve of NLR, PLR and their joint prediction of ALI in BAP was 0.774, 0.767, 0.806, respectively. The area under the ROC curve of NLR, PLR and their joint prediction of the occurrence of cholangiocytic liver injury in BAP was 0.813, 0.742, 0.861, respectively. The area under ROC curve of NLR, PLR and their joint prediction of mixed liver injury in BAP was 0.763, 0.770 and 0.794 respectively. The results of binary Logistic regression analysis showed that elevated NLR was a risk factor for SAP〔OR=1.184, 95%CI (1.102, 1.271) , P<0.001〕. Elevated NLR and PLR were the risk factors for ALI in BAP〔OR=1.140, 95%CI (1.050, 1.238) , P=0.002; OR=1.007, 95%CI (1.001, 1.013) , P=0.023〕; elevated NLR was a risk factor for bile duct cell liver injury in BAP〔OR=1.184, 95%CI (1.054, 1.331) , P=0.004〕. Elevated NLR and PLR were risk factors for mixed liver injury in BAP〔OR=1.120, 95%CI (1.120, 1.221) , P=0.011; OR=1.007, 95%CI (1.001, 1.013) , P=0.034〕.

Conclusion

Elevated NLR is a risk factor for SAP, elevated NLR and PLR are the risk factors for ALI in BAP. The predictive value of NLR on the severity of BAP and concurrent ALI is better than PLR, and the combined detection effect is better.

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29. Factors Associated with Compliance and Association between Compliance and Recurrence in Patients with Acute Pancreatitis
Liyanran YAN, Yaqian WANG, Rina WU, Tianran CHEN, Xueli ZHANG
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (12): 1512-1518.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.02.015
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Background

Acute pancreatitis is one high-incidence acute abdominal condition, which is closely related to dietary habits and lifestyle. Patients' compliance with medical advice also directly affects treatment effect and prognosis. There are some studies on compliance in patients with acute pancreatitis, but little attention has been paid to its association with recurrence.

Objective

To investigate the factors associated with compliance with medical advice and the association between compliance and recurrence in patients with acute pancreatitis.

Methods

By use of convenience sampling, four grade A tertiary hospitals in Shijiazhuang City (The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, and the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University) were selected as survey settings, in which patients with acute pancreatitis treated from 2019 to 2021 were selected as the subjects. Then the patients were surveyed using a self-designed questionnaire for investigating their demographics, awareness level of acute pancreatitis, and health belief during the three days prior to discharge, and were followed up by telephone at 3, 6, and 12 months after the questionnaire survey for acquiring the recurrence. They also attended another survey using a self-designed questionnaire at the last telephone follow-up for understanding their compliance.

Results

In all, 100 cases attended the survey, 97 of them (97.0%) who effectively responded to the survey were included for final analysis. Among the 97 respondents, 62 (63.9%) were fully compliant, 27 (27.8%) partially compliant, and 8 (8.3%) non-compliant. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that gender〔OR=9.393, 95%CI (1.909, 46.223) 〕, age〔OR=1.048, 95%CI (1.000, 1.099) 〕, education level 〔OR=0.572, 95%CI (0.333, 0.985) 〕, and awareness level of acute pancreatitis〔OR=0.902, 95%CI (0.834, 0.976) 〕 were associated with compliance in patients with acute pancreatitis (P<0.05) . During the 12 months of follow-up, 41 patients (42.3%) relapsed and 56 (57.7%) did not. There was a statistically significant difference in compliance of patients with and without recurrence (χ2=7.082, P=0.029) . Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that male 〔OR=10.798, 95%CI (1.034, 112.781) 〕, alcohol consumption〔OR=16.546, 95%CI (1.310, 209.049) 〕, cholelithiasis〔OR=8.502, 95%CI (1.694, 42.673) 〕, hyperlipidemia〔OR=5.287, 95%CI (1.098, 25.450) 〕, partial compliance〔OR=0.115, 95%CI (0.014, 0.947) 〕, and noncompliance〔OR=0.036, 95%CI (0.003, 0.513) 〕 were risk factors for the recurrence of acute pancreatitis (P<0.05) .

Conclusion

The factors affecting the compliance of patients with acute pancreatitis include gender, age, educational level, and awareness of acute pancreatitis, and compliance may be a key associated factor of the recurrence rate. Therefore, to reduce the development and recurrence of acute pancreatitis, it is suggested to take actions in accordance with the associated factors of compliance to promote relevant health education to improve patients' compliance with medical advice and ability of self-management. In addition, actions should be taken to reduce the influence of risk factors of recurrence of acute pancreatitis, such as improving unhealthy eating habits, quitting drinking, actively treating hyperlipidemia and other underlying diseases, and curing cholelithiasis and other predisposing factors as soon as possible.

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30. Relationship of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Interleukin-6 with Frailty in Hospitalized Elderly Patients with Chronic Disease in the Stable Phase 
DAI Jingrong, LI Jie, HE Xu, LI Yang, LI Yan
Chinese General Practice    2021, 24 (36): 4599-4606.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.02.037
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AbstractBackground  Frailty-related issue is increasingly prominent with the acceleration of aging in China.However, domestic research on frailty is still in its infancy characterized by non-objective diagnosis basis, unclear pathogenesis and imperfect interventions.Objective  To investigate the correlation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and interleukin-6 with frailty in elderly patients with chronic disease in the stable phase,so asto explore objective diagnostic basis and new interventions for frailty. Methods  A total of 152 inpatients (≥ 60 years old) with chronic disease in the stable phase were recruited from Department of Geriatrics,the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province(hereinafter referred to as “the department of the hospital”) from November 2020 to April 2021. Clinic and laboratory data were collected. Comprehensive geriatric assessment was conducted via an internet-based platform of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment(inpatient version) developed by the department of the hospital,among which frailty was assessed by the Chinese version of Fried Frailty Phenotype,a component of the assessment scale. Results  Among the 152 patients,47(30.9%) had no frailty,51(33.6%) had pre-frailty and 54(35.6%) had frailty. According to the binary Logistic regression analysis,disability〔OR=6.162,95%CI(1.091,34.789),P=0.039〕, 25-hydroxyvitamin D〔OR=0.901,95%CI(0.825,0.985),P=0.022〕 and interleukin-6〔OR=1.103,95%CI(1.012,1.201),P=0.025〕 were influencing factors for frailty in elderly patients with chronic disease in the stable phase. Conclusion  Sufficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D may be associated with decreased risk of frailty and elevated interleukin-6 may be associated with increased risk of frailty in elderly patients with chronic disease in the stable phase. So these two indicators may be potential targets for predicting and treating frailty.

【Key words】 Frailty;Aged;Chronic disease;25-hydroxy-vitamin D;Vitamin D;Interleukin-6

【Chinese Library Classification Number】R 151.1 【Document Identification Code】A

1.Introduction

Frailty is a special state in which the physical functions of the elderly gradually decline. It is characterized by weakened muscle strength and endurance, decreased physiological functions, increased vulnerability, decreased anti-stress ability with subsequent adverse consequences such as falls, disability, cognitive impairment, mental abnormalities, and even death[1][2]. To identify high-risk older adults, Fried et al.[3]roposed the use of a clinical phenotype to characterize frailty, which consisted of five body components, including decreased muscle strength, reduced walking speed, fatigue, reduced physical activity and unconscious weight loss. These criteria are now widely used in clinical research for the diagnosis of frailty.

With the aging of the Chinese population, the problem of frailty in old age is increasingly serious. However, frailty specific diagnosis is not objective, the pathogenesis is not clear, and the intervention is not sound, indicating that the current research on this matter is yet in its infancy. Although there are previous studies that have explored the possibility of symptoms related to the geriatric syndrome, such as cognitive function, daily activity ability, anxiety and depression and others, to diagnose frailty more confidently and precisely, data on the correlation between 25- hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), interleukin (IL)-6 and frailty in elderly are still missing. Therefore, we aim to explore the correlation between senile frailty and 25(OH)D and IL-6, so asto lay a foundation for the objective diagnosis and intervention of senile frailty in the future.


2   Objects and Methods

2.1 Research objects   

152 patients at the age of 60 years and above, diagnosed with a chronic disease in the stable phase were recruited at the Department of Geriatrics, the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, China. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) previously hospitalized patients with no new disease, aged ≥ 60 years without new disease, 2) patients with no communication barriers and able to cooperate in the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA), and 3) patients who were voluntarily participating in the study and have signed the informed consent. The applied exclusion criteria were: 1) elderly people who have been supplemented with Vitamin D and anti-inflammatory drugs in the past one month, 2) patients, who were diagnosed with acute infectious diseases recently, 3) patients with serious physical and/or mental diseases with communication barriers, who were unable to complete the Fried scale assessment, 4) patients who were bedridden or unstable for a long time and 5) patientswho had insufficient information on the evaluation scale or laboratory data.

This study was implemented after approval of the Medical Ethics Committee of the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province (No. KHLL2021-KY034).

2.2   Data Collection

2.2.1 General information   

Patients’ general information, including age, gender, height, body mass, body mass index (BMI), educational level, allergyhistory, vision or hearing loss, presence or absence of dentures, marital status, eating habits, sleep time, sleep aids supplementation, current smoking (referring to smoking in the last 30 days before the survey), current drinking (referring to the alcohol consumption in the last 30 days before the survey) were collected.

2.2.2    Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) 

The internet-based platform of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (inpatient version) is a software independently developed by the Department of Geriatrics, First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, China and was applied in the current study. It consists of several national general assessment scales and has certain intelligence. The calculated scores and evaluation results were given automatically according to each assessment option following the criteria and reference scope formulated by various general scales. The researchers collected patients’ data through a WeChat mini-program or computer, and Excel forms were automatically generated for data summary later. The assessors were geriatricians who have received the "Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment System" software training. The assessment included mainly nutritional status assessment and the Micronutrient Assessment Scale (MNA-SF) was used. Values ≥ 24 were considered as indicators of good nutrition, betwen17 and 24 were designated as potential malnutrition, while between 0 and 17 were classified as malnutrition. The cognitive function assessment was according to the Simple Mental State Examination Scale (MMSE), where values between 0 and 9 were classified as a severe impairment, between 10 and 20 - as moderate impairment, between 21 and 26 were classified as mild impairment, while scores between 27 and 30 were designated as cognitive normal functions. Evaluation of anxiety and depression followed the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), where scores ≥ 6 indicated anxiety and depression. Evaluation of depression following the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) was used and the T scores <50 indicated no presence of depression, whereas T ≥ 50 was classified as a depressive mental state. The evaluation of anxiety was according to the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), where scores <50 indicated lack of anxiety, while equal and above 50 was categorized as anxiety. Daily living ability assessment was according to the basic Living activity ability (BADL) scale, where scores between 91 and 100 were indicators of good daily living function, between 61 and 90 were regarded as mild functional impairment, between 41 and 60 was labeled as moderate functional impairment, between 21 and 40 were considered as severe functional impairment, whereas patients with scores between 0 and 20 were grouped as completely disabled. Instrumental living ability assessment was according to the Instrumental Ability of Daily Living (IADL) scale was used to assess whether patients were able to go shopping, go out for activities, cook food, maintain household chores and wash clothes. Those who need assistance in 3 or more of these criteria were considered disabled. The sleep status assessment was done according to the Assens Insomnia Scale (AIS), where scores between 0 and 3 indicated good sleep, between 4 and 6 spoke for potential insomnia, whereas between 7 and 24 indicated insomnia. Fall risk assessment was according to the Morse Fall Risk Assessment Scale, where scores between 0 and 24 classified the patients at low risk of fall, between 25 and 44 categorized the patients at moderate risk, whereas scores equal and above ≥ 45 categorized the elderly people at severe risk. The balance function evaluation was agreeing with the Tinetti balance and gait scale, where scores less than 15 indicated the risk of falling, between 15 and 24 designated balance dysfunction, whereas scores ≥ 24 indicated good physical function. The visual simulation method was used for pain evaluation. Scores equal to 0 indicated lack of pain, between 1 and 3 designated mild pain, between 4 and 6 showed the presence of moderate pain, whereas between 7 and 10 indicated presence of severe pain. The evaluation of urinary incontinence was in harmony with the Incontinence Questionnaire Simple Form (ICI-Q-SF), where scores equal to 0 classified the patients into the group of asymptomaticurinary incontinence, between 1 and 7 determined the elderly people with mildurinary incontinence, between 8 and 14 indicated moderateurinary incontinence, whereas the scores between 15 and 21 indicated that the patients had severe urinary incontinence. Constipation was assessed using the Roma  = 3 \* ROMAN III Scale (≥2). Other parameters that were taken into account included falls (within the last 1 year), the number of chronic diseases, the coexistence of multiple diseases (≥ 2 diseases), multiple medications (≥ 5 oral medications), the number of medications and others. All these allowed to assess and diagnose frailty and evaluating scores are presented in Table 1.

Table 1  Contents of the Chinese version of Fried method for evaluation and classification of frailty among elderly people

variable

Overall

(n=288)

Non-Frailty(n=87)

Pre-Frailty(n=93)

Frailty(n=108)

χ2(F) value

P value

age a(years)

67.501

<0.001**

<75 years old

111(38.5)

50(67.8)

37(39.8)

15(13.9)

≥75,<85 years old

92(31.9)

24(27.6)

35(37.6)

33(30.6)

≥85 years old

82(29.5)

4(4.6)

21(22.6)

60(55.6)

gender b

1.527

0.466

male

173(60.1)

48(55.2)

56(60.2)

69(63.9)

Female

115(39.9)

39(44.8)

37(39.8)

39(36.1)

BMI a,mean ± SD

23.28±4.14

23.63±3.41

23.42±5.54

22.87±3.15

0.897

0.409

Education level b

7.599

0.269

illiteracy

12(4.2)

1(1.1)

6(6.5)

5(4.6)

primary school

155(53.8)

51(58.6)

44(47.3)

60(55.6)

Middle school

66(29.9)

15(17.2)

26(28.0)

25(23.1)

College degree and above

55(19.1)

20(23.0)

17(18.3)

18(16.7)

Vision condition b

9.617

0.008*

  normal

87(30.2)

24(27.6)

39(41.9)

24(22.2)

  decline

201(69.8)

63(72.4)

54(58.1)

84(77.8)

Hearing condition b

20.417

<0.001**

  normal

115(39.9)

48(55.2)

41(44.1)

26(24.1)

  decline

173(60.1)

39(44.8)

52(55.9)

82(75.9)

marital status b

4.667

0.097

  Married

222(77.1)

72(82.8)

74(79.6)

76(70.4)

Divorced/Widowed

66(22.9)

15(17.2)

19(20.4)

32(29.6)

Eating habits b

2.114

0.347

Light diet mainly

248(86.1)

71(81.6)

82(88.2)

95(88.0)

Mainly salty and greasy diet

40(13.9)

16(18.4)

11(11.8)

13(12.0)

sleeping time(h) a ,mean ± SD

6.74±1.69

7.08±1.78

7.19±2.09

1.459

0.234

Smoking status b

1.363

0.506

  Not currently smoking

224(77.8)

65(74.7)

76(81.7)

83(76.9)

  Current smoking

64(22.2)

22(25.3)

17(18.3)

25(23.1)

Drinking situation b

3.529

0.171

  Not currently drinking

242(84.0)

68(78.2)

82(88.2)

92(85.2)

  Current drinking

46(16.0)

19(21.8)

11(11.8)

16(14.8)

Number of chronic diseases (species) a,mean ± SD

7.72±3.39

6.70±3.59

7.46±3.45

8.75±4.23

7.297

0.001*

Polypharmacy(kind) b

14.734

0.001*

  No Polypharmacy

103(35.8)

44(50.6)

33(35.5)

26(24.1)

  There are Polypharmacy (≥5 species)

185(64.2)

43(49.4)

60(64.5)

82(75.9)

Note: The lack of compliance with any of the items listed in Table 1 indicated a lack of frailty. The compliance with 1 and/or 2 items indicated a pre-frailty condition, while the compliance with 3 items was firmly diagnosed as frailty; IPAQ = International Physical Activity Scale


2.2.3   Laboratory examination  

30 ml of fasting venous blood was collected from the hospitalized elderly patients from 6:00 to 8:00 am and sent to the clinical laboratory of our hospital for testing. The automatic analyzer Xiang Instrument L1550 was used for blood samples analyse. The blood was centrifuged at 3 500 r/min for 5 min. The detected parameters included the white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells count (RBC), haemoglobin (Hb), platelets (PLT) and neutrophils count (NEUT), as well as the C-reactive protein (CRP). The aspartate (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were detected by the rate method. Triacylglycerols (TG) were detected by the deionization glycerol method, the total protein (TP) was detected by the biuret method, albumin (ALB) was detected by the bromocresol green method, while the total cholesterol (TC) was detected by the cholesterol oxidase method. High density (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) were detected by the elimination method. Blood sodium (Na+), blood potassium (K+) and blood chlorine (Cl-) were detected by the ion-selective electrode method. Creatinine (Cr) and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) were assayed by enzyme reactions. Urea nitrogen (BUN) was assayed by the urease UV rate method. Uric acid (UA) was assayed by enzyme calorimetry. Blood calcium (Ca2+) was assessed by the arsenazo ⅲ method. The Hexokinase method was used for assessing the amount of fasting blood glucose. Fructosamine was detected by the tetrazolium blue method. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroid hormone (T4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroid hormone (FT4), ferritin, vitamin B12, folic acid, 25(OH)D, estradiol, testosterone, homocysteine (Hcy), fasting insulin (FINS) were detected by electrochemiluminescence. Activated partial thrombin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT) and D-dimer (DD2) were detected by the magnetic bead method or by immunoturbidimetry. Tumour necrosis factor (TNF), IL-10, IL-6, IL-12P70, IL-1 and IL-8 were detected by chemiluminescence.

2.2.4   Data quality control  

To assure the gathered data quality all assessment physicians passed the training programme for assessment of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment System Software Platform (Inpatient version). All incomplete or inconsistent data were regarded as invalid data and thus excluded from the study.

2.3  Statistical Methods  

SPSS 23.0 software was used for statistical analysis. The measurement data (


3   Results

152 elderly patients were included in the study, among them, 47 (30.9%) had no frailty, 51 (33.6%) had early frailty and 54 (35.6%) had frailty.

3.1   Comparison of general data and geriatric syndrome of patients with different degrees of frailty   

There were no significant differences in gender, height, body mass, BMI, education level, food or drug allergy, denture, marital status, eating habits, sleep time, use of sleeping supplementation, current smoking and alcohol consumption, present anxiety, fall, pain, urinary incontinence, constipation and multiple diseases among patients with different degrees of frailty (P > 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in age, visual impairment, hearing impairment, nutritional status, cognitive function, presence of anxiety and depression, presence of anxiety, daily living ability, disability, sleep status, fall risk, balance function, number of chronic diseases, multiple medications, number of medications(P <0.05). These data are shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Comparison of clinical data and geriatric syndromes in participants by level of frailty

frailty degree

no frailty (n=47)

pre-frailtyn=51

frailty (n=54)

χ2(F) value

P value

Age (±s, years)

74.45±8.035

80.29±8.81

85.17±7.06

22.678a

<0.001

Gendern(%)

1.263

0.532

male

2553.2

3262.7

3463.0

female

2246.8

1937.3

2037.0

height(±s,m)

1.60±0.88

1.61±0.06

1.62±0.08

0.815a

0.444

Body mass(±s,kg)

59.57±11.15

58.52±10.63

60.60±10.30

0.494

0.611

BMI( ±skg/m2

24.47±2.69

24.17±1.90

23.84±2.21

0.959a

0.385

Education leveln(%)

13.692

0.090

illiteracy

00.0

23.9

47.4

primary school

1736.2

1325.5

1833.3

junior high school

2042.6

1325.5

1324.1

high school

510.6

1529.4

916.7

College degree and above

510.6

815.7

1018.5

Food or medicineHistory of allergiesN(%)

1123.4

1325.5

1018.5

0.776

0.678

Vision lossN(%)

3063.8

3160.8

4481.5

6.138

0.046

Hearing lossN(%)

2553.2

3160.8

4481.5

9.790

0.007

Have false teethn%)〕

2553.2

2549.0

3361.1

1.602

0.449

Divorced/Widowed

817.0

1325.5

1629.6

2.224

0.329

Eating habitsn(%)

0.035

0.983

Light diet

4085.1

4486.3

4685.2

Greasy diet

714.9

713.7

814.8

sleeping time(±s,h/d)

6.55±1.84

7.18±2.17

7.22±1.81

1.794a

0.170

TakeSleeping aidsN(%)

817.0

917.6

1120.4

0.218

0.897

Current smokingN(%)

1327.7

1223.5

1731.5

0.829

0.661

Current drinking N (%)

919.1

1019.6

1120.4

0.024

0.988

Nutritional statusn(%)

30.644

<0.001

Good nutrition

2961.7

2345.1

1324.1

Potential malnutrition

1634.0

2651.0

2342.6

Severe malnutrition

24.3

23.9

1833.3

Cognitive functionn(%)

51.111

<0.001

Good cognitive function

3370.2

2141.2

138.6

Mild cognitive impairment

1327.7

2447.1

1324.1

Moderate cognitive impairment

12.1

611.8

1833.3

Severe cognitive impairment

00.0

0.0.0

1018.5

Anxiety and depression

N(%)

1940.4

3568.6

4379.6

17.495

<0.001

Existence suppression

DepressionN(%)

1838.3

3670.6

4277.8

18.654

<0.001

ExistenceWorry stateN(%)

24.3

35.9

59.3

1.084

0.581

Ability of daily living [n (%)]

87.800

<0.001

Good daily function

4085.1

2141.2

35.5

Mild dysfunction

510.6

2243.1

1935.2

Moderate dysfunction

24.3

611.8

713.0

Severe dysfunction

00.0

23.9

2546.3

DisabilityN(%)

919.1

2651.0

4890.6

51.821

<0.001

Sleep conditionn(%)

12.017

0.017

Sleep well

2961.7

1835.3

1629.6

Potential insomnia

714.9

1121.6

1425.9

Insomnia

1123.4

2243.1

2444.4

Nearly 1 yearFalln%)〕

714.9

917.6

59.3

1.616

0.446

Risk of falling [n(%)]

9.603

0.048

Low risk

3983.0

3772.5

3157.4

Moderate risk

612.8

611.8

1120.4

Severe risk

24.3

815.7

1222.2

Balance functionn(%)

16.314

0.003

Function well

2859.6

1937.3

1527.8

Balance disorder

1123.4

2345.1

1833.3

Risk of falling

817.0

917.6

2138.9

Have painN(%)

2656.5

2956.9

3259.3

0.094

0.954

Urinary incontinenceN(%)

36.4

917.6

1018.5

3.614

0.164

constipateN(%)

1123.4

1427.5

1629.6

0.503

0.778

Number of chronic diseases

(±s, kind)

4.87±2.29

5.86±2.12

6.39±2.80

4.985a

0.008

Multiple diseases coexist

N(%)

4595.7

51100.0

5296.3

2.104

0.349

Multi-drugN(%)

2451.1

3874.5

3666.7

6.046

0.049

Number of medications(±s, kind)

5.15±2.53

6.22±2.82

6.81±3.35

3.987

0.021

Note: Pain = mild pain + moderate pain + severe pain; urinary incontinence = mild urinary incontinence + moderate urinary incontinence + severe urinary incontinence; a represents F value; BMI = body mass index


3.2   Comparison of the laboratory examination indexes of the elderly patients with different degrees of frailty   

There were no significant differences in the WBC, RBC, PLT, NEUT, CRP, AST, TG, TP, TC, HDL, LDL, K+, Cr, HbA1c, BUN, UA, Ca2+, fasting blood glucose, glucosamine, TSH, T3, T4, FT3, FT4, ferritin, vitamin B12, folic acid, testosterone, FINS, TT, TNF, IL-10, IL-12P70, IL-1 among the studied patients with different degrees of frailty (P>0.05). Statistically significant differences were found in the Hb, ALT, ALB, Na+, Cl-, (25(OH)D, estradiol,  Hcy,, APTT, PT, DD2, IL-6 and IL-8 (P<0.05). These parameters and interactions are shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Comparison of the laboratory indicators in the elderly participants by the level of frailty

frailty degree

no frailty (n=47)

pre-frailtyn=51

frailty (n=54)

Z( F ) value

P value

WBC MP25P75),

×109 /L

6.825.267.76

6.164.897.22

5.935.077.26

1.520

0.285

RBCMP25P75),

×1012/L

4.343.994.64

4.394.074.71

4.103.444.59

8.158

0.077

Hbg/L

132.43±24.84

137.43±17.65

121.44±27.33

6.276

0.002

PLTMP25P75),

×109 /L

210.00168.00248.00

194.00151.00235.00

180.50137.00224.25

4.028

0.329

NEUTMP25P75),

×109 /L

4.542.745.35

3.812.954.71

4.092.954.96

1.487

0.084

CRPMP25P75), mg/L

2.350.5020.75

3.041.3111.42

11.172.6728.05

8.650

0.056

ASTMP25P75), U/L

20.0015.0027.00

19.0015.0024.00

18.5015.0026.00

0.419

0.770

ALT MP25P75,U/L

14.0010.0025.00

16.0010.0020.00

12.008.0019.00

4.242

0.030

TG MP25P75,mmol/L

1.180.851.84

1.250.851.96

1.100.741.61

2.263

0.439

TPg/L

64.28±7.07

63.48±6.60

63.72±9.38

0.133

0.875

ALBg/L

37.20±4.96

36.50±4.14

34.18±3.52

7.250

0.001

TCmmol/L

4.16±1.25

4.11±1.00

3.87±1.05

1.040

0.356

HDLmmol/L

1.08±0.37

1.05±0.28

1.00±0.28

0.803

0.450

LDLmmol/L

2.51±1.00

2.43±0.79

2.28±0.87

0.936

0.395

Na+mmol/L

139.34±2.96

139.51±2.87

137.33±4.02

6.844

0.001

K+mmol/L

3.96±0.47

4.00±0.45

3.97±0.49

0.034

0.966

Cl-MP25P75),

mmol/L

108.00106.00110.00

107.00105.00110.00

106.00102.75108.00

9.637

0.003

CrMP25P75,μmol/L

72.0060.0090.00

77.0063.0095.00

83.0067.50114.00

5.176

0.147

HbA1cMP25P75),%

6.255.827.75

6.315.817.74

6.025.576.82

4.246

0.160

BUNMP25P75),μmol/L

6.404.908.70

6.804.908.90

7.855.6810.10

3.946

0.225

UAMP25P75)μmol/L

362.00285.00425.00

396.00339.00457.00

346.00261.25504.75

4.083

0.069

Ca2+MP25P75),mmol/L

2.192.092.28

2.192.102.26

2.182.102.24

0.486

0.875

Fasting blood glucoseMP25P75, mmol/L]

5.404.606.80

4.904.406.60

4.854.206.00

3.010

0.140

FructosaminMP25P75,μmol/L]

1.601.461.76

1.551.441.66

1.541.371.70

1.231

0.786

TSHMP25P75),mU/L

2.831.494.38

2.731.504.51

2.281.304.51

0.231

0.544

T3MP25P75),nmol/L

1.040.811.30

0.950.801.28

0.960.721.16

2.450

0.277

T4MP25P75nmol/L

76.3366.6780.07

76.3365.5890.15

72.5564.1183.71

0.809

0.781

FT3MP25P75),pmol/L

4.373.924.97

4.293.414.77

4.173.164.70

3.854

0.776

FT4MP25P75),pmol/L

12.4110.8814.53

12.259.9214.72

13.2311.6715.14

2.435

0.238

APTTs

36.01±4.19

37.51±4.44

39.29±5.53

5.943

0.003

PTMP25P75),s

12.8012.2013.40

12.9012.4013.50

13.3012.7814.18

12.309

0.010

TTMP25P75),s

18.1017.2018.80

18.3017.6019.20

18.0017.1818.70

2.184

0.668

DD2(ug/ml)

1.180.902.11

1.331.002.06

2.001.294.39

16.137

0.009

FerritinMP25P75, ng/ml

237.07181.59418.50

225.9695.4337826

224.03106.48480.20

1.025

0.676

Vitamin B12MP25P75, pmol/L

297.00225.00498.77

344.00224.00462.00

394.50260.25924.50

5.727

0.654

Folic acid MP25P75,nmol/L

15.509.8022.80

15.509.6024.80

12.707.6828.25

0.733

0.325

25OHD(μg/L

22.72±9.69

19.60±9.42

17.14±6.59

5.282

0.006

Estradiol (Pmol/L)

111.61±53.60

125.17±62.47

149.60±52.97

5.919

0.003

Testosterone (nmol/L)

1.860.5113.24

2.840.5415.20

4.770.5713.51

0.162

0.776

HcyMP25P75),μmol/L

14.4011.9017.95

16.8014.2019.10

17.9515.0023.63

7.705

0.015

FINSMP25P75),U/L

6.924.9411.52

6.063.909.04

6.774.168.62

2.150

0.600

TNFMP25P75),ng/L

5.984.1812.87

6.324.1813.20

6.155.2010.39

0.597

0.832

IL-10MP25P75),ng/L

4.333.485.38

4.753.706.30

4.923.686.46

3.196

0.147

IL-6MP25P75,ng/L

12.615.9518.37

20.887.8234.01

25.2917.2146.79

31.520

<0.001

IL-12P70MP25P75),ng/L

5.223.575.92

4.992.045.80

5.564.646.32

4.078

0.165

IL-1ßMP25P75),ng/L

4.653.647.59

4.933.458.02

4.653.917.22

0.408

0.873

IL-8MP25P75),ng/L

19.4612.7738.93

41.6718.5390.28

25.6514.6460.40

8.685

0.008

Note: WBC=white blood cell count, RBC=red blood cell count, Hb=hemoglobin, PLT=platelet count, NEUT=neutrophil fraction, CRP=C reactive protein, AST=aspartate aminotransferase, ALT=alanine aminotransferase, TG=triacylglycerol, TP=total protein, ALB=albumin, TC=total cholesterol, HDL=high-density lipoprotein, LDL=low-density lipoprotein, Na+=serum sodium, K+=serum potassium, Cl-= blood chlorine, Cr= creatinine, HbA1c= glycosylated hemoglobin, BUN= urea nitrogen, UA= uric acid, Ca2+=blood calcium, TSH= thyroid stimulating hormone, T3= triiodothyronine, T4= thyroid hormone, FT3= Free triiodothyronine, FT4 = free thyroid hormone, 25 (OH) D = 25 hydroxyvitamin D, Hcy = homocysteine, FINS = fasting insulin, APTT = activated partial thromboplastin time, PT = coagulation proenzyme time, TT = thrombin time, DD2 = D-dimer, TNF = tumor necrosis factor, IL = interleukin; a represents F value


3.3   Binary Logistic regression analysis   

Taking frailty of elderly patients with stable chronic diseases as a dependent variable, where 1 indicated lack of frailty and 2 designated pre-frailty and frailty, all variables with statistically significant differences (P<0.05) demonstrated in Tables 1 and 2 were taken as independent variables. These included the age (assigned: measured value), vision (where 0 was normal and 1 was decreased), hearing (where 0 was normal and 1 was accepted as decreased), nutritional status (where 0 indicated good nutrition, 1 - potential malnutrition and 2 - malnutrition), cognitive function (where 0 was normal cognition and 1 was cognitive impairment), anxiety and depression states (where 0 was accepted as no anxiety and depression state, whereas 1 was classified with anxiety and depression state, depression state (where 0 indicated no depression state, whereas 1 indicated presence of such), daily living ability (where 0 was indicative of good daily life function, while 1signified dysfunction of daily life), disability (where 0 indicated not disabled and 1 - complete disability), sleep status (with 0 equal to good sleep, 1equal to potential insomnia, whereas 2 represented insomnia), risk of fall (where 0 indicated low risk, 1- moderate risk, while 2 indicated severe risk), balance function (where 0 stood for good physical function, 1 for balance dysfunction, whereas 2 indicated risk of fall), number of chronic diseases (measured value), multiple medications (where 0 indicated none and 1 indicated presence), number of medications (measured value), Hb (measured value), ALT (measured value), ALB (measured value), Na+ (measured value), Cl- (measured value), 25- (OH) D (measured value), estradiol (measured value), Hcy (measured value), APTT (measured value), PT (measured value), DD2 (measured value), IL-6 (measured value), IL-8 (measured value). Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that the disability, 25-(OH)D and IL-6 were the independent influencing factors in elderly patients with stable chronic diseases (P<0.05), as shown in Table 4.

Table 4 Binary logistic regression analysis of frailty in elderly patients with chronic disease

variable

β

SE

Wald x2 value

P value

OR95%CI

Disability

1.818

0.883

4.240

0.039

6.1621.09134.789

25-OHD

-0.104

0.045

5.238

0.022

0.9010.8250.985

IL-6

0.098

0.044

5.008

0.025

1.103(1.012,1.201)


4 Discussion

4.1   Occurrence of senile frailty and independent related factors  

Our results showed that the overall incidence of frailty in the studied hospitalized elderly patients was 35.6% (54/152), which was similar to the results of Lai Xiaoxing et al.[4], Wei Yin et al.[5]and others[6], where the estimated incidence rate was 31.3%, 34.4% and 35.4%, respectively, which was higher than that estimated one by Wang Wanwan et al.[7], whose calculations showed an incidence of the frailty of 25.1%. Interestingly, these estimations were lower than that by Jin Qiulu et al.[8], who found that the frailty rate of elderly patients (≥ 80 years old) was 41.6%. These differences in the prevalence and incidence rate of frailty among elderly people may be due to different assessment tools, age, and study subjects.However,overall, the prevalence of frailty in China is not optimistic.Considering that is often followed by a variety of adverse consequences[1-2], early screening, prevention and intervention can greatly reduce the prevalence and hospitalization rate of elderly people with frailty.

Other authors’ studies in the United States, Mexico, Australia and other countries have shown that Vitamin D (25(OH)D) is an independent factor affecting frailty[9][11]. In addition, another analysis involving that 20 355 subjects from 13 studies demonstrated a significant inverse relationship between the 25(OH)D levels in patients’ blood results and increased frailty severity (following Fried's phenotypic definition) in both the original analysis and sensitivity analysis[12]. The results of our study are consistent with those of the above. However, according to a cross-sectional study of community women aged ≥ 75 years in Belgium, there no relationship between low vitamin D levels and lower limb muscle strength and grip strength was estimated[13]. The reason for this variance may be that the study from Belgium only targeted community women ≥ 75 years. Moreover, the levels of 25(OH)D in the blood are influenced by multiple factors, such as gender, age, geography and others, therefore these results may be somewhat limited.

According to multiple other meta-analyses, frailty and early frailty were associated with higher levels of CRP and IL-6[14][15]. This was confirmed by a recent meta-analysis of 23 910 older adults, where the authors proved that frailty and pre-frailty were associated with higher levels of inflammatory factors, especially CRP and IL-6[16]. Our research results were similar to the above studies. Although CRP was not an independent risk factor for frailty in our study, the single factor comparison was still statistically significant (P<0.05). The reason for this difference may be that the sample size of this study, which we understand that is relatively small. Second, the subjects were elderly patients with stable chronic diseases, and CRP was an acute phase reactant[17], therefore it was possible to rise under a variety of pathophysiological conditions. Therefore, this non-specific inflammatory marker was not considered as necessarily related to frailty[18].

4.2   25(OH)D, IL-6 and senile frailty are interrelated in elderly patients   

25(OH)D is the major circulating metabolite of Vitamin D which is a globally recognized marker reflecting the Vitamin D status. Vitamin D deficiency is often associated with muscle weakness[19]. Vitamin D receptors (VDRs) are distributed in multiple target organs such as skin and muscles[20].VDRs act as nuclear receptor-mediated gene effects. VDRs bind to  (1,25-(OH)2D) to induce the proliferation and differentiation of muscle fiber, and also affect the synthesis of related proteins. On the other hand, VDRs can also activate signal transduction pathways that can induce MAP kinase and phospholipase C through non-nuclear receptor-mediated non-genetic effects, so that a large number of calcium ions can rapidly flow into cells and affect muscle contraction[21][22]. Therefore, the possible mechanisms of 25(OH)D deficiency leading to frailty are due to affected muscle strength, resulting in decreased grip strength [23][24] and because of reduced development of muscle cells, ultimately leading to unconscious weight loss[25]. In addition, Vitamin D deficiency can also cause osteolysis secondary to hyperparathyroidism, leading to osteoporosis and even fracture, which can aggravate the progression of frailty and osteoporosis, leading to disability and other adverse events.

IL-6 levels increase with age[14], and high IL-6 can be used as a predictor of both the occurrence of sarcopenia and the adverse outcomes of frailty and sarcopenia, such as disability, functional decline and even death[26]. IL-6 can inhibit TNF-α and IL-1β and induce the production of CRP, fibrinogen and other acute-phase reactants[14], it can also indirectly reduce growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels, reduce protein synthesis and lead to sarcopenia. In addition, increased serum IL-6 and CRP levels were also associated with decreased grip strength[27]. The study of Maet al.[28]included 130 elderly patients and showed that IL-6 was negatively correlated with the strength and gait speed of the frailty elderly. IL-6 levels were also inversely associated with exercise tolerance in older adults after adjustment for age and gender. Therefore, we suggested that IL-6 could be applied as a biomarker for functional decline and frailty.

All the above studies suggest that high IL-6 levels are associated with senile frailty, and Vitamin D deficiency may be involved in inflammation and immune system activation[29]. Moreover, data are suggesting that Vitamin D supplementation reduced the levels of IL-6 in peripheral blood, inhibiting the production of IL-6 by peripheral blood monocytes, macrophages and T cells[30][31], and thus upregulating the expression of anti-inflammatory factors (such as IL-10) and inflammatory suppressor molecules[32].

4.3 Vitamin D supplementation as an intervention for reducing senile frailty   

Some relevant epidemiological studies suggested that Vitamin D had a potential role in maintaining and improving muscle strength, function and physical performance, thus maintaining the independence of elderly people[33]. Other authors’ results demonstrated that the combined supplementation of elderly people with calcium and Vitamin D reduced the incidence of fractures and the risk of falls among them[34][36]. In addition, a randomized controlled trial of 5,615 participants showed only a slight improvement in the overall muscle strength after baseline Vitamin D supplementation[37]. Some data show that Vitamin D supplementation in elderly people may take longer or larger doses are needed before its beneficial effect on the muscles is present[38], to slow the progression of frailty[39]. Nonetheless, Cummingset al.[40]confirmed that the high-dose Vitamin D supplementation increased the risk of falls. Therefore, the ideal supplementation threshold for Vitamin D is a major question that needs special attention. According to the American Institute of Medicine, concentrations of 25(OH)D above 50 nmol/L are fully sufficient for human needs [41], while the American Endocrine Society sets the sufficient threshold above 72.5 nmol/L, the insufficiency threshold between 52.5 and 72.5 nmol/L, while the deficiency threshold is set at daily uptake concentrations less than 50 nmol/L[42]. Thus it can be seen that the dose critical value of vitamin D supplementation in the intervention of senile frailty needs further investigation.


5 Conclusion

The detected prevalence of senile frailty in hospitalized patients is not optimistic at all and is a burden to the medical and social systems in China. Therefore, the early screening, diagnosis and intervention of frailty are particularly essential. In this study, 25(OH)D and IL-6 were found to be independently correlated with frailty in elderly patients with stable chronic diseases. This indicates that 25(OH)D played as a protective factor of frailty in elderly patients with stable chronic diseases, while IL-6 was a risk factor. Therefore, 25(OH)D and IL-6 are expected to be predictors or objective biological indicators for the diagnosis of frailty in elderly patients with stable chronic diseases. In addition, Vitamin D supplementation may help prevent or delay senile frailty, though its dosage needs to be further discussed.


The innovativeness of this study can be summarized as follows:

1. The mobile software platform was successfully used to replace the traditional paper version for the evaluation of the senile frailty and related symptoms, which greatly reduced data collection time and statistical errors, thus increasing the reliability of the data.

2. The study of the senile frailty from the direction of the objective biomarkers in haematology and the mechanism of their action was described, which covered the lack of domestic research in this area.

3. This study proposed that 25-hydroxyvitamin D and interleukin-6 may be predictive or diagnostic factors of frailty in elderly patients with stable chronic diseases. Moreover, the hypothesis that Vitamin D supplementation of elderly patients may be a potential target for interventions is raised.

Like any other study, ours has some limitations too. The study was cross-sectional with a small sample size, which could not directly explore the causal relationship between the 25-hydroxyvitamin D, interleukin-6 and frailty. Second. it was a single-centre study with certain regional limitations. Finally, the subjects of this study were hospitalized elderly patients with stable chronic diseases, which could not represent the whole elderly population.


Author contribution: Dai Jingrong was responsible for the conception and design of the paper, the analysis and interpretation of the results, as well as the writing of the paper; Li Yan carried out the implementation and feasibility analysis of the research and was responsible for the quality control and review of the paper. Data collection was done by Li Jie, He Xu and Li Yang; He Xu and Li Yang, whosorted out and input data; Li Jie conducted the statistical processing and revised the paper; Dai Jingrong and Li Yan were responsible for the supervision and management of the article.

No conflict of interest is declared.

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31.

Best Evidence Summary for Perioperative Blood Glucose Management in Patients Undergoing Pancreatectomy

CUI Lei, LIU Linglong, WANG Jianjian, YU Huiping, SUN Qingmei, MIAO Yi, FANG Xiaoping
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (09): 1047-1053.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.02.096
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Background

Blood glucose disorder is a common perioperative problem in patients with pancreatectomy. However, current perioperative blood glucose management for pancreatic resection patients in China is mostly based on experience and lack of evidence-based basis.

Objective

To summarize the best evidence for perioperative blood glucose management in patients undergoing pancreatectomy.

Methods

A systematic literature search of BMJ Best Practice, Up to Date, Guideline International Network, International Diabetes Federation, World Health Organization, National Guideline Clearinghouse, American Diabetes Association, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, New Zealand Guidelines Group, Canadian Diabetes Association, Australian Diabetes Society, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBase, CINAHL Database, Cochrane Library, the Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence-based Health Care Center, Medlive.cn, Wanfang Data, CNKI, and Chinese Biomedical Database was conducted to screen the literature on perioperative blood glucose management in patients with pancreatectomy published from inception to December 2020. The AGREE Ⅱ scale updated in 2009 by the International AGREE Collaboration Organization was used to assess the quality of guidelines. The quality assessment of the expert consensus used the 2017 version of the expert consensus evaluation standard of the Australian JBI Evidence-based Health Care Center. The Jadad scale was used to assess the quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) .

Results

A total of 6 637 studies were retrieved, and 13 of them were finally included, of which 7 were clinical practice guidelines, 4 were expert consensus, and 2 were RCTs. The results of quality assessment showed that 3 of the 7 clinical practice guidelines were rated grade A, and the remaining 4 were rated grade B. In assessing the quality of the 4 expert consensuses, the answers of raters for all items were "yes" , except that their answers for the item "Is there a reasonable explanation for the point of view inconsistent with other literature?" were "unclear" . Both the two RCTs were rated high. A total of 62 pieces of best evidence were collected, mainly related to perioperative organization and management, admission evaluation and treatment, blood glucose control goals, blood glucose monitoring, preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative blood glucose management strategies, management of emergency conditions, and discharge guidance.

Conclusion

Clinical medical workers can develop individualized and holistic perioperative blood glucose management plans for patients with pancreatectomy, based on the above-mentioned 9 aspects of best evidence.

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32.

Developmental Trajectory of Frailty in Chinese Elderly Peoplean Analysis Based on the Latent Growth Model

GUO Kailin, WANG Shiqiang, LI Dan, WANG Yijie, WANG Shaokun, XU Zhihan
Chinese General Practice    2022, 25 (06): 742-749.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.02.119
Abstract1372)   HTML49)    PDF(pc) (1191KB)(665)    Save
Background

Frailty is a prominent manifestation of aging. Frailty in Chinese older people has been studied mostly using cross-sectional designs, but its developmental trajectory has been rarely studied using longitudinal designs.

Objective

To examine the developmental trajectory and associated factors of frailty in Chinese older people using the data of four national waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) .

Methods

The data of this study obtained from four national waves〔2011 (the baseline survey), and 2013, 2015 and 2018 (follow-up surveys) 〕 of CHARLS, which was initially conducted in 2011, and was followed by tracking once every 2 to 3 years with multi-stage PPS sampling for middle-aged and elderly groups in 28 provincial administrative regions of China, covering 150 counties and 450 villages. The surveyees were coded, and matched, then 2 267 cases (≥60 years old) involved in the four waves of surveys were selected as the sample. Frailty was assessed by the frailty index (FI). Mplus was used to construct three types of unconditional latent growth models, and the optimal fitting model was selected to determine the developmental trajectory of frailty of Chinese older people, and was used to develop the conditional latent growth model. The effects of time-invariant factors (gender, education level) and time-varying factors (physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep) on frailty were examined.

Results

The latent growth model with undefined curve fit the data better, and was selected as the optimal model to determine the frailty development trajectory. The results of χ2 (3) =36.16, CFI=0.992, TLI=0.984, RMSEA=0.070, SRMR=0.022, indicating that the frailty prevalence in older adults showed a trend of curvilinear increase. The values of intercept (initial level), slope (growth), and the variation of them of the model were significantly higher than 0 (P<0.01), indicating that there were significant individual differences in the initial level and growth rate of frailty. Gender and education level were negatively associated with the initial level of frailty (β=-0.113, -0.173, P<0.01). They were also negatively associated with the growth of frailty (β=-0.181, -0.151, P<0.01). Compared with men, women had higher initial level and faster growth rate of frailty (P<0.05). Compared to those with higher education level, those with lower education level had higher initial level and faster growth rate of frailty (P<0.05). Physical activity and sleep were negatively associated with frailty in all waves of surveys (P<0.05). Smoking was positively associated with frailty in 2011, 2015, 2018 waves of surveys (P<0.05). Alcohol consumption was positively associated with frailty in 2013 and 2015 waves of surveys (P<0.05) .

Conclusion

The frailty in Chinese older people showed a trajectory of curvilinear increase, and its initial level and growth rate had significant individual differences. Comparatively speaking, being female and having lower education level were associated with increased risk of having frailty. Moderate- and high-level physical activity and adequate sleep were associated with decreased risk of having frailty or alleviating frailty. Long-term smoking and drinking too much could exacerbate frailty.

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33. Emerging Markers of Frailty in Older People: Recent Strides and Prospect 
LI Kexin,LYU Jing,YU Bing,LUO Haoming
Chinese General Practice    2021, 24 (36): 4580-4586.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.02.036
Abstract414)      PDF(pc) (1013KB)(264)    Save
Frailty has been considered as a major public health issue. Compared with scale tools for massive screening for frailty in older people,biomarkers may identify those at high risk for frailty earlier and more objectively. We reviewed the new advances and limitations in traditional biomarkers of frailty,such as inflammation,endocrine and oxidative stress markers,discussed the potentials of new biomarkers such as protein biomarkers,epigenetic markers,neuronal markers and extracellular water fraction,and proposed new methods for frailty evaluation,including combination use of frailty biomarkers and physical function parameters,use of a group of core frailty biomarkers,and use of appropriate frailty biomarkers according to individual frailty level. Exploring valuable frailty biomarkers as a supplement for available studies,is conducive to clarifying the pathogenesis of frailty,and will effectively support the prevention,diagnosis and prognosis improvement of frailty.
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34. Possible Mechanism of Action of Hyperglycemia Caused by Partial Pancreatectomy on Gut Floras in a Rat Model 
GUO Laili,WANG Jing,LI Tingting,BAI Xiuping
Chinese General Practice    2021, 24 (33): 4234-4240.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.02.040
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Background Recent rapid development of sequencing technology improves the understanding of the close association between gut floras and an increasing number of diseases. The relationship of gut floras with diabetes,a primary disease threatening human health,has attracted extensively attention. Objective To explore the changes of gut floras in a rat model with elevated blood glucose due to partial pancreatectomy and the possible mechanism. Methods Forty male SD rats were equally randomized into four groups:group A(no interventions),group B(treated with open total splenectomy),group C(treated with open total splenectomy and partial pancreatectomy),and group D〔treated with open total splenectomy,partial pancreatectomy,and administration of insulin glargine injection(0.1 U/kg),once daily at one week after the surgery〕. The oral glucose tolerance test was performed in all groups at the first and fourth weeks after the initiation of the study to test the blood glucose. The rats were sacrificed at the end of the fourth week of study,and the ileal tissues were taken out for pathologically examining morphological changes. The NF-κB p65 expression 〔expressed as average optical density(AOD)〕 in ileal tissues was detected using immunohistochemistry. Gut floras in fecal specimens were assessed by sequencing the 16S rRNA V3-V4 variable regions using the Illumina MiSeq (PE300) sequencing platform. The changes in gut microbiota were analyzed comparatively. Results The rat model of stable hyperglycemic was successfully created by using partial pancreatectomy. Dark brown staining was seen in the mucosal,submucosal,and muscular layers of the ileal intestine in group C under microscopy. The AOD value of NF-κB p65 expression in group C was more elevated than that of group A or B (P<0.05). Sequencing of gut floras of four groups of rats found that the relative distribution of the gut flora of each group at the phylum level was significantly different. Group C had decreased abundance of Firmicutes,increased number of Bacteroides and increased abundance of Proteus compared with groups A and B,and so did group D. The α-diversity expressed by dilution curve showed that the order of species richness from low to high was:group A<group D<group B<group C. The community distribution was relatively concentrated in each group,indicating that the group's specimen repeatability was good and stable. The species composition of groups A and B were the most similar,which were located in the same quadrant. The specimens of groups C and D were clustered in the other two quadrants,respectively. Conclusion Elevated blood glucose may activate the NF-κB signaling pathway,leading to inflammatory changes in the intestines,which would result in intestinal flora disorders,mainly presented as significantly decreased abundance of Firmicutes,and considerably increased abundance of Bacteroides and Proteus at the phylum level.
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35. Progress of Clinical Research on Frailty and Hypertension 
LUO Jianzhao,GUO Ru,SU Yanling,YANG Rong,LI Dongze,ZHAO Qian,LIAO Xiaoyang
Chinese General Practice    2021, 24 (32): 4145-4149.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.01.307
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Both frailty and high blood pressure are elderly problems related to aging. Both frailty and high blood pressure increase the risk of adverse outcomes for the elderly. Patients with frail and hypertension have received the attention of hypertension guidelines,but there is still a lack of guidance for treatment and management. An important reason is that the relationship between hypertension and frailty remains unclear,and it is controversial whther patients with frailty and hypertension can benefit from antihypertensive therapy. This paper reviews the latest clinical studies involving both frailty and hypertension,intends to analyze the relationship between frailty and hypertension from different perspectives,in order to provide new inspiration for the treatment and management of frail patients with hypertension.
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36. Emergency expert consensus on diagnosis and treatment of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis
Expert group of emergency expert consensus on diagnosis and treatment of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis
Chinese General Practice    2021, 24 (30): 3781-3793.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.02.028
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37. Impact of Early Active Fluid Resuscitation on Patients Initially Assessed as Non-severe Acute Pancreatitis 
LIU Jun,WU Pengyu,LIU Li,SUN Xiaobin
Chinese General Practice    2021, 24 (27): 3457-3463.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.00.454
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Background Fluid resuscitation is considered as the key of early treatment of acute pancreatitis(AP),but there are few reports about the fluid resuscitation scheme in patients initially assessed as non-severe AP,moreover,the impact of early active fluid resuscitation on the progression of non-severe AP to severe AP and prognosis is inconclusive. Objective To investigate the impact of early active fluid resuscitation on patients initially assessed as non-severe AP. Methods From 1 January to 31 December,2018,219 patients initially assessed as non-severe AP were selected from Department of Gastroenterology,the Third People's Hospital of Chengdu and divided into control group(n=118,using conventional treatment plus regular fluid resuscitation with fluid volume<3 200 ml administered within 24 hours of admission)and observation group(n=101,using conventional treatment plus active fluid resuscitation with fluid volume ≥3 200 ml administered within 24 hours of admission). Total volume of fluid resuscitation at 24,48 and 72 hours after admission,clinical outcome,rate of reaching the improved criteria by fluid resuscitation as well as rate of progression to severe AP 3 and 7 days after treatment were compared between the two groups,and subgroup analysis was conducted. Results Compared to control group,observation group had larger total volume of fluid resuscitation administered within 24 hours of admission,longer fasting time for solids and liquids,higher rate of reaching the improved criteria by fluid resuscitation and lower rate of progression to severe AP 3 and 7 days after treatment,as well as lower incidence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome(SIRS)(P<0.05). Subgroup analysis indicated that,compared to the controls,mild patients in observation group had longer fasting time for solids and liquids,and higher incidence of SIRS(P<0.05). In control group,longer fasting time for solids and liquids as well as hospital stays,higher rates of undergoing mechanical ventilation and invasive/interventional treatment,transferring to ICU and progression to severe AP 3 and 7 days after treatment were found in moderate patients compared to the mild patients(P<0.05). In observation group,longer fasting time for solids and liquids,and higher rate of progression to severe AP 7 days after treatment were found in moderate patients compared to mild patients(P<0.05). Conclusion In patients initially assessed as non-severe acute pancreatitis,early active fluid resuscitation(total volume of fluid resuscitation administered within 24 hours of admission is suggested to be larger than half of that administered within 48 hours of admission or ≥3 200 ml)may be helpful to improve the clinical outcome,rate of reaching the improved criteria by fluid resuscitation,and reduce the risk of progression to severe AP,with no association with the degree of AP(mild or moderate)at diagnosis.
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38. Interpretation of Screening for and Managing the Person with Frailty in Primary Care:ICFSR Consensus Guidelines 
LIU Pan, LI Yun, MA Lina
Chinese General Practice    2021, 24 (25): 3141-3147.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.00.222
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Frailty is a common clinical syndrome in older adults,often coexists with other diseases,which could increase an individual's vulnerability for developing increased risk of dependency and/or death. Due to the lack of geriatric clinicians and insufficient awareness of frailty screening in community-dwelling older adults,the frailty in these older people often progresses to disability,affecting their physical function and quality of life. Early frailty screening and interventions for older adults in primary care is an important way to prevent the progression of frailty and maintain physical function. In 2020,the International Conference on Frailty & Sarcopenia Research(ICFSR) developed the guidelines on screening for and managing the person with frailty in primary care. The guidelines proposed seven rapid frailty screening tools and two frailty management methods suitable for primary care,providing practical strategies for frailty screening and management in primary care. We mainly interpreted frailty screening and management parts in the guidelines,which will help the screening for and managing Chinese older adults with frailty in the community.
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39. Frailty and Multimorbidity in the Elderly:Challenges for General Medical Services Delivered by Healthcare Facilities in a Compact Medical Consortium and Recommended Solutions 
XU Haihong,WANG Yongli,YAN Wei
Chinese General Practice    2021, 24 (24): 3026-3031.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.00.509
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Multimorbidity in the elderly is a global public health problem. Most elderly people with multimorbidity have cognitive impairment,mental and psychological problems with much higher risks of falls,disability and even death. Multimorbidity coexisting and interacting with frailty may worsen the conditions of elderly people,increasing the risk of adverse outcome,which brings new challenges to general practice. Regarding frailty and multimorbidity in the elderly in China,we proposed the recommendation:developing a general practitioners-led multidisciplinary team formed by professionals working in healthcare facilities in a compact medical consortium to deliver holistic management services,including standardized pharmacological treatment,cognitive improvement treatment,psychotherapy,in combination with exercise rehabilitation and nutritional support. We hope the recommendation could treat multimorbidity with reversing or delaying frailty,and improve the quality of life and reduce medical burden of these people.
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40. Prevalence and Influencing Factors of Frailty among Elderly People in the Community 
FENG Qingqing,BIAN Meng,DU Yufeng
Chinese General Practice    2021, 24 (24): 3032-3038.   DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2021.00.530
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Background Frailty is a term that describes a decrease in physiological function that results in dependency,which can be dynamic and reversible. Frailty is closely correlated with adverse health outcomes in older people,so it is particularly important to early identify frailty,and deliver interventions targeting its influencing factors in this group in a rapidly ageing world. Objective To investigate the frailty prevalence and influencing factors in the elderly in the community,providing evidence for the development of interventions for frailty in this population. Methods This household survey was carried out from June 2018 to June 2019 by eligible physicians with relevant trainings with the help of the neighborhood committee. Participants(n=600) were randomly selected from a random sample of 6 moderate-income communities with the assistance of Taiyuan Health Commission. The questionnaire used for collecting data includes three parts:general information,geriatric syndrome-related assessment〔Mini Nutritional Assessment-short Form(MNA-SF),Mini-mental State Examination(MMSE),Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale(SAS),Zung Self-rating Depression Scale(SDS),Athens Insomnia Scale,Activities of Daily Living(ADL) Scale〕,and the FRAIL Scale. Multivariate ordinal Logistic regression analysis was adopted to analyze the influencing factors of frailty. Results Altogether,513(85.5%) cases who responded to the survey effectively were included in the final analysis. Of the respondents,431(84.0%) were robust,63(12.3%) were pre-frail,and 19(3.7%) were frail. The prevalence of frailty among the respondents differed significantly by age,education level,living environment,swallowing function,number of chronic diseases,nutritional status,cognitive function,anxiety status,depression status,sleep status,and level of independence in ADLs(P<0.05). Multivariate ordinal Logistic regression analysis found that number of chronic diseases〔OR=1.455,95%CI(1.071,1.974)〕,cognitive function 〔OR=0.915,95%CI(0.855,0.979)〕,depression〔OR=2.563,95%CI(1.185,5.540)〕,level of independence in ADLs 〔some dependency:OR=2.487,95%CI(1.310,4.721);very dependant:OR=11.485,95%CI(4.424,29.815)〕 were the influencing factors of frailty(P<0.05). Conclusion The frailty of elderly in the community are affected by the number of combined chronic diseases,cognitive function,depression,and ability to perform ADL. Interventions for reducing the risk of frailty may be delivered based on the above-mentioned frailty-related factors.
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