INTRODUCTION:

Sarcopenia is a generalized and progressive skeletal muscle disorder characterized by gradual reduction in muscle mass, strength and function and is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization, prolonged hospitalization and an increased risk of morbidity and mortality and unfavourable outcomes. The early diagnosis of sarcopenia is crucial to establish a treatment plan in order to achieve a favourable prognosis.

OBJECTIVES:

To analyse the prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly patients admitted to a hospital.

METHODOLOGY:

An analysis of the literature published from the PubMed database in the last 5 years using the descriptors "sarcopenia" AND "hospitalized" AND "prevalence" was carried out. The survey was conducted between July and August 2020.

RESULTS:

The prevalence of sarcopenia varied widely among the analysed literature, from 7.2% to 73%. This variation occurs according to the algorithm used to diagnose sarcopenia, the population analysed, and the methods applied to measure muscle mass, strength and function. Most studies reported that sarcopenia had a progressive tendency with age and was associated with a variety of adversities. The coexistence of malnutrition in sarcopenic elderly was high and there is an association between sarcopenia and an increased risk of death.

CONCLUSIONS:

The analysis of the prevalence of sarcopenia showed that malnutrition and sarcopenia often coexist and may be associated with negative clinical outcomes. The existing evidence suggest the importance to include on the nutritional evaluation done on hospital admission, not only the evaluation of presence of malnutrition but as well of sarcopenia.

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