Intrinsic capacity and risk of death: Focus on the impact of using different diagnostic criteria for the nutritional domain

Objective: We aimed to estimate the ability of intrinsic capacity (IC) to predict death in community-dwelling older people using different diagnostic criteria to define the nutritional domain. Methods: Participants from the Belgian SarcoPhAge cohort were followed from 2013 to the present. Four IC domains were assessed at baseline (data on the sensorial domain were not collected), and considered unsatisfactory below some specific thresholds. The nutritional domain was considered unsatisfactory if baseline malnutrition was present, defined by: 1) MNA-SF =11 points; 2) seven versions of the GLIM criteria, varying by the technique used to identify a reduced muscle mass; or 3) the combination of MNA-SF =11 points + GLIM criteria. The association between baseline unsatisfactory IC and 9-year mortality was calculated using the odds ratio (OR) adjusted for cofounders. Results: Among the 534 participants (73.5 ± 6.2 years old; 60.3 % women at baseline), 157 (29.4 %) were dead after 9.3 ± 0.3 years of follow-up. Patients with baseline unsatisfactory IC in the locomotor domain (adjusted OR = 2.31 [95%CI 1.38–3.86]) or psychological domain (adjusted OR = 1.78 [1.12–2.83]) were at higher mortality risk. Regarding malnutrition, unsatisfactory IC in the nutrition domain was strongly associated with a higher mortality risk, whatever the criteria used to identify a reduced muscle mass. The highest association with mortality was found in participants with a baseline unsatisfactory nutritional domain defined by the combination of MNA-SF + GLIM criteria (adjusted OR = 3.27 [95%CI 1.72–6.23]). Conclusions: Presenting any unsatisfactory IC at baseline was associated with a higher 9-year mortality risk in community-dwelling older people. The sequential incorporation of MNA-SF and GLIM criteria as the IC nutritional domain would be helpful to guide public health actions towards healthy ageing.