Coexistence of sarcopenia and self‐reported weight loss is a powerful predictor of mortality in older patients with heart failure

Abstract

AimWe examined whether the addition of self‐reported weight loss improves the accuracy of prediction of mortality caused by sarcopenia in heart failure (HF) patients.MethodsWe enrolled 477 HF patients (mean age 77 years) who received combined assessment of sarcopenia and self‐reported weight loss. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the criteria of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. If the patients answered “yes” to the question “have you lost 2 kg or more in the past 6 months?”, they were diagnosed as having self‐reported weight loss.ResultsSarcopenia and self‐reported weight loss coexisted in 32% of patients. During a median follow‐up period of 763 days, 65 patients (15%) died. Kaplan–Meier curves showed a significantly higher rate of mortality in HF patients with both sarcopenia and self‐reported weight loss than in HF patients with sarcopenia alone. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that the coexistence of sarcopenia and self‐reported weight loss is an independent predictor of mortality in HF patients. Inclusion of the coexistence of sarcopenia and self‐reported weight loss in the baseline model consisting of established prognostic markers significantly improved both the net reclassification index and the integrated discrimination index.ConclusionsThe coexistence of sarcopenia and self‐reported weight loss is a powerful predictor of mortality in HF patients. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 95–101.