Association between changes in nutritional status and ability to perform activities of daily living in older patients with heart failure: A stratified analysis by frailty status.

Objectives: We aimed to determine the association between changes in nutritional status and the activities of daily living (ADL) at discharge, considering frailty status of older patients with heart failure (HF).

Methods: This study included 491 older inpatients with HF categorized into the following groups based on their clinical frailty scale (CFS) scores: low, intermediate, and high. Changes in nutritional status were assessed using the Controlling Nutritional Status score at admission and discharge. The outcome variable was Barthel Index (BI) at discharge.

Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated an association between improvement in nutritional status and high BI at discharge in both the low and intermediate CFS groups (odds ratio [OR], 2.18 [95% confidence interval, 1.04-4.58]), (OR, 2.45 [1.21-4.95]), respectively.

Conclusions: Improvement in the ADL at discharge in older patients with HF was associated with improved nutritional status during hospitalization in the low and intermediate CFS groups.