A study found a considerable rate of malnutrition and sarcopenia among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who were in clinical remission. This study was published in the European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

The investigators assessed sociodemographic, clinical, and anthropometric data on 344 patients with IBD in clinical remission. Nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaire. Body composition was defined as fat-free mass (FFM) analyzed with Tanita-330 ST. Muscle strength was calculated with a Takei digital hand grip dynamometer and physical performance was measured via gait speed.

Forty percent of patients were at risk of malnutrition, while 9.9% were malnourished and 5.5% were underweight. Probable or confirmed sarcopenia was diagnosed in 41.3% of patients. The most important predictor of sarcopenia was flares requiring hospitalization, which was reported in 100% of patients. Other predictors of sarcopenia included total number of flares (80.1%), FFMI (46.5%), age (44.6%), body mass index (31.8%), MNA score (27.7%), serum creatinine (23.6%), anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha use (23.3%), and gender (17.8%).

Via: European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology https://journals.lww.com/eurojgh/Abstract/2021/11000/Malnutrition_and_sarcopenia_are_prevalent_among.6.aspx