LAUSR

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between changes in lower limb muscle mass and energy intake during the acute phase in older hemiplegic inpatients with stroke. METHODS A prospective cohort study was performed in 157 consecutive older patients with stroke. Patients were categorized into two groups of energy sufficiency/non-sufficiency based on their daily energy intake during the first week after admission, and compared with regard to change in femur muscle thickness (ΔFMT) between admission and after the four-week period in paralysis/non-paralysis limbs. FMT was determined using B-mode ultrasound imaging with an 8-MHz transducer. RESULTS The study included 42 men and 54 women (mean age 81 T 6 y). At one week after admission, 57 patients were classified into the energy sufficiency group, and 39 were in the energy shortage group. ΔFMT in each group: -3.7 ± 5.1 mm in the paralysis/sufficiency group, -5.2 ± 5.2 mm in the paralysis/shortage group, -1.5 ± 3.9 mm in the non-paralysis/sufficiency group and -3.9 ± 3.2 mm in the non-paralysis/shortage group. No significant difference was observed in the ΔFMT between the sufficiency group and the non-sufficiency group in the paralysis limb (P = 0.159); a significant difference was observed in the non-paralysis limb (P = 0.002). The multivariate regression analysis showed that energy sufficiency were independently associated with ΔFMT in the non-paralysis limb (unadjusted coefficient = 1.592; 95% confidence interval = 0.072 to 3.112, P = 0.040). CONCLUSIONS Energy intake could affect ΔFMT on the non-paralysis side in older stroke inpatients.