Frailty is a geriatric syndrome that affects multiple domains of human functioning. A variety of problems contributes to the development of this syndrome; poor nutritional status is an important determinant of this condition. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine recent evidence regarding the association between nutritional status and frailty syndrome in older adults. PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus electronic databases were searched using specific key words, for observational papers that were published during the period from 2005 to February 2017 and that studied the association or relationship between nutritional status and frailty in older adults. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement was followed to assess the quality of the included articles. Of the 2042 studies found, nineteen met the inclusion criteria. Of these studies, five provided data on micronutrients and frailty, and reported that frailty syndrome is associated with low intakes of specific micronutrients. Five studies provided data on macronutrients and frailty, and among those studies, four revealed that a higher protein intake was associated with a lower risk of frailty. Three studies examined the relationship between diet quality and frailty, and showed that the quality of the diet is inversely associated with the risk of being frail. Two studies provided data on the antioxidant capacity of the diet and frailty, and reported that a high dietary antioxidant capacity is associated with a lower risk of developing frailty. Finally, seven studies evaluated the relationship between scores on both the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and the MNA-SF (Short Form) and frailty, and revealed an association between malnutrition and/or the risk of malnutrition and frailty. This systematic review confirms the importance of both quantitative (energy intake) and qualitative (nutrient quality) factors of nutrition in the development of frailty syndrome in older adults. However, more longitudinal studies on this topic are required to further understand the potential role of nutrition in the prevention, postponement, or even reversion of frailty syndrome.

The use of multisensory stimulation in people with dementia is becoming increasingly popular in the last decades. The aim of this review is to analyze the therapeutic effectiveness of multisensory stimulation in people with dementia. We made a search on Medline and Web of Science databases referred to all researches published from the year 1990 to 2012, which used multisensory stimulation techniques in people with dementia. The revision of the 18 articles which fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria seems to prove evidence that multisensory stimulation environments produce immediate positive effects on the behavior and mood of people with dementia. Based on the above, we think it can be a useful nonpharmacological intervention on neuropsychological symptoms though, in any case, it would be necessary to start more reliable protocols from the methodological point of view in order to establish its long-term effectiveness.

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of a multisensory stimulation environment (MSSE) and individualized music sessions on agitation, emotional and cognitive status, and dementia severity in a sample of institutionalized patients with severe dementia. Twenty-two participants with a diagnosis of severe or very severe dementia were randomly assigned to two groups: MSSE and individualized music sessions. Both groups participated in two 30-min weekly sessions over 16 weeks. Outcomes were agitation (Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory, CMAI), mood (Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia, CSDD), anxiety (Rating Anxiety in Dementia, RAID), cognitive function (Severe Mini-Mental State Examination, SMMSE), and the overall severity of dementia (Bedford Alzheimer Nursing Severity Scale, BANS-S). They were assessed at baseline (pre-trial), in the middle (mid-trial), at the end of the intervention (post-trial), and 8 weeks after the intervention (follow-up). Patients in the MSSE group showed significant improvement in their RAID and BANS-S scores compared with the individualized music group post- versus pre-trial. With regard to agitation, there was improvement during the intervention in both the MSSE and individualized music groups in the CMAI total score after 16 weeks of intervention, with no significant differences between the groups. The results suggest that MSSE could have better effects on anxiety symptoms and dementia severity in comparison with individualized music sessions in elderly patients with severe dementia.

Background: Age-related sensory loss and frailty are common conditions among older adults, but epidemiologic research on their possible links has been inconclusive. Clarifying this relationship is important because sensory loss may be a clinically relevant risk factor for frailty.Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched 3 databases for observational studies investigating 4 sensory impairments—vision (VI), hearing (HI), smell (SI), and taste (TI)—and their relationships with frailty. We meta-analyzed the cross-sectional associations of VI/HI each with pre-frailty and frailty, investigated sources of heterogeneity using meta-regression and subgroup analyses, and assessed publication bias using Egger’s test.Results: We included 17 cross-sectional and 7 longitudinal studies in our review (N = 34,085) from 766 records. Our cross-sectional meta-analyses found that HI and VI were, respectively, associated with 1.5- to 2-fold greater odds of pre-frailty and 2.5- to 3-fold greater odds of frailty. Our results remained largely unchanged after subgroup analyses and meta-regression, though the association between HI and pre-frailty was no longer significant in 2 subgroups which lacked sufficient studies. We did not detect publication bias. Longitudinal studies largely found positive associations between VI/HI and frailty progression from baseline robustness, though they were inconclusive about frailty progression from baseline pre-frailty. Sparse literature and heterogenous methods precluded meta-analyses and conclusions on the SI/TI–frailty relationships.Conclusions: Our meta-analyses demonstrate significant cross-sectional associations between VI/HI with pre-frailty and frailty. Our review also highlights knowledge gaps on the directionality and modifiability of these relationships and the impact of SI/TI and multiple sensory impairments on frailty.