The association between the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score and several adverse health outcomes, including mortality, has been reported in the scientific literature. We conducted a comprehensive literature review of studies on the relationship between SPPB and mortality. The current paper synthesizes the characteristics and main findings of longitudinal studies available in the literature that investigated the role of the SPPB in predicting mortality in older adults. The studies (n = 40) are from North America, South America, Europe, and Asia; the majority (n = 16) were conducted with community-dwelling older adults and reported an association between lower SPPB scores and a higher risk of mortality, and between higher SPPB scores and higher survival. Nevertheless, few studies have analyzed the accuracy of the instrument to predict mortality. The only study that established cut-off points was conducted with older adults discharged from an acute care hospital. Although an SPPB score lower than 10 seems to predict all-cause mortality, further studies showing cut-off points in specific settings and loco-regional specificities are still necessary.

To compare the values obtained from maximum respiratory pressures (MRP) between sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic elderly; to verify the association of maximum respiratory pressures with sarcopenia and its indicators; and to establish cut-off points for MRP as a discriminator of sarcopenia.

METHODS: this cross-sectional, observational and analytical household survey was conducted with 958 elderly individuals living in the urban area. The Brazilian version of the Functional Assessment Questionnaire and Multidimensional Scales (Depression, Katz and Lawton brief geriatric versions) were used, together with the Phenotype of Frailty developed by Fried. Descriptive analysis was performed along with a bivariate and multinomial logistic regression model (p<0.05).RESULTS: a total of 313 (32.7%) non-frail elderly individuals were found in addition to 522 (55.4%) pre-frail and 128 (12.8%) frail individuals. Factors associated with pre-frailty and frailty, respectively, included: being 70├ 79 years old and 80 years old or older; using 1├ 4 medications and 5 or more; greater number of morbidities, functional disability for instrumental activities of daily life, and negative self-perception. The absence of a partner was associated with pre-frailty while hospitalization in the last year, functional disability for basic activities of daily life and indication of depression were associated with frailty.CONCLUSION: pre-frailty and frailty conditions presented a percentage higher than that reported by Brazilian studies and are associated with health-related variables. These variables can be prevented with interventions directed to the health of elderly individuals.

Resumo Objetivou-se verificar a associação entre os escores de qualidade de vida e autoestima em idosos na comunidade. Inquérito domiciliar, transversal, observacional e analítico, conduzido com 1.691 idosos residentes em área urbana de um município no interior de Minas Gerais. Foram utilizados os instrumentos World Health Organization Quality of Life Bref (Whoqol-Bref), World Health Organization Quality of Life Old (Whoqol-Old) e a Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg. Procedeu-se à análise estatística descritiva e modelo de regressão linear (p < 0,05). Constatou-se que o domínio relações sociais (71,19) e a faceta morte e morrer (74,30) apresentaram os maiores escores médios entre os idosos; enquanto os menores foram observados no domínio meio ambiente (60,39) e na faceta participação social (63,06). Os escores de autoestima apresentaram média de 9,36 ± 4,09. Os menores escores de qualidade de vida em todos os domínios do Whoqol-Bref e das facetas do Whoqol-Old (exceto morte e morrer) associaram-se com os piores níveis de autoestima (p < 0,001). Os resultados encontrados fornecem informações para a elaboração de ações em saúde a partir da compreensão dos aspectos que influenciam na QV de idosos devido à redução da autoestima.

Background: Sarcopenia is a geriatric syndrome associated with negative health outcomes and the use of viable alternative screening tools may help in the diagnosis of this condition. This study aimed to analyze the association of sarcopenia with anthropometric indicators among community-dwelling older adults and to identify cut-off points for such indicators as a discriminant criterion for predicting sarcopenia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on community-dwelling older adults ≥60 years old (n = 411) of both sexes from Macapá, Amapá, Brazil. Socioeconomic, clinical and anthropometric data (arm circumference - AC, waist circumference - WC, calf circumference - CC and body mass index – BMI) were collected using a structured form. Sarcopenia was identified according to the EWGSOP 2 consensus. The association between anthropometric indicators and sarcopenia was performed using logistic regression and cut-off points established from the ROC Curve. Statistical significance was defined as p ≤ 0.05. Results: Adjusted analysis indicated an independent and inverse association between sarcopenia and the anthropometric indicators: AC (odds ratio, OR: 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 95%CI: 0.53–0.76), CC (OR: 0.73; 95%CI: 0.62–0.85), WC (OR: 0.93; 95%CI: 0.90–0.97) and BMI (OR: 0.64; 95%CI: 0.53–0.76). The following cut-off points for older men and women represented the discriminant criterion for the presence of sarcopenia: WC (≤97 and ≤ 86 cm), CC (≤33 and ≤ 31 cm), AC (≤27 cm) and BMI (≤24.8 kg/m² and ≤ 24.5 kg/m²) (area under the ROC curve superior to 0.70). BMI and AC were the indicators with the highest ability to discriminate older adults of both sexes with sarcopenia. Conclusions: An increase of one unit of the indicators can reduce the probability of occurrence of sarcopenia. All indicators were considered to discriminate the occurrence of sarcopenia, with emphasis on BMI and AC, and could be used to screen for this condition among community-dwelling older adults.

To compare the obtained and expected values of pulmonary function variables between sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic elderly; verify the association between the pulmonary function and the indicators and diagnosis of sarcopenia; and establish cut-off points for pulmonary function variables to predict sarcopenia.