LB014 - SARCOPENIC OBESITY AT HOSPITAL DISCHARGE AND ITS THREE-MONTH EVOLUTION IN POST-CRITICAL COVID-19 PATIENTS: A NUTRIECOMUSCLE SUBSTUDY

LB014

SARCOPENIC OBESITY AT HOSPITAL DISCHARGE AND ITS THREE-MONTH EVOLUTION IN POST-CRITICAL COVID-19 PATIENTS: A NUTRIECOMUSCLE SUBSTUDY

M. Riestra¹, A. Zugasti², A. Larrad³, A. Sanchez-Bao⁴, I. Vegas-Aguilar⁵, A. Zagalegui⁶, R. Urdaniz-Borque ⁷, A. Fernandez-Pombo⁸, C. Joaquin⁹, I. Breton^10,*

¹Endocrinologia y Nutricion , Hospital de Canueñes, Gijón, ²Endocrinología y Nutricíon , Hospital de Navarra, Pamplona, ³Endocrinologia y Nutricion , Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, ⁴Endocrinologia y Nutricion , Hospital Universitario De Ferrol, Ferrol, ⁵Endocrinologia y Nutricion , Hospial Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga, ⁶Endocrinologia y Nutricion , Hospital Val'Hevron, Barcelona, ⁷Endocrinologia y Nutricion , Hospital Clinico Universitario, Zaragoza, ⁸Endocrinologia y Nutricion , Hospital Universitario De Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, ⁹Endocrinologia y Nutricion , Hospital German Trias i Pujol, Barcelona, ¹⁰Endocrinología y Nutricíon , Hospital General Universitaro Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain

Rationale: Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is highly prevalent after critical illness, yet is often underdiagnosed. This study assessed the prevalence of SO at hospital discharge and its evolution after a nutritional and rehabilitation programme in COVID-19 survivors.

Methods: Multicentre prospective observational substudy of the NutriEcoMuscle cohort, including adults discharged after ICU admission for severe COVID-19. Patients underwent nutritional assessment, body-composition and functional evaluation at hospital discharge and after 3 months, following an intervention including oral nutritional supplementation with100% serum lactoprotein, leucine and vitamin D, and motor rehabilitation. SO was defined as the coexistence of low muscle strength (Tomkinson, 2024), low relative muscle mass (Janssen, 2002), and high fat mass (Garvey, 2016). Paired comparisons between discharge and 3 m. were performed using McNemar’s test.

Results: 95 p. were evaluated at discharge. Low muscle strength was identified in 69 p. and 49 (51,5%) fulfilled criteria for sarcopenic obesity. At 3 months, data were available for 87 p. Low muscle strength was present in 40 p., and 29 (33%) met criteria for SO. In the paired analysis, the prevalence of SO decreased significantly between hospital discharge and the 3-month follow-up. Low muscle strength also decreased significantly. No significant differences were observed in the prevalence of low relative muscle mass or high fat mass.

Conclusion: Sarcopenic obesity is highly prevalent at hospital discharge among post-critical COVID-19 patients. 3 months nutritional intervention and physical rehabilitation is associated with a significant reduction in low strength and the prevalence of SO, although persistent cases are also observed. These findings support systematic screening for SO at discharge and follow-up.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared