# Sarcopenia as a Predictor of Hospital-Associated Disability in Older Adults

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $261,105

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Inability to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) is a primary cause of reduced quality of life for the millions
of Americans living with AD/ADRD and is an important barrier to living independently for these older
Americans. Older adults with AD/ADRD are at particular risk of functional decline and death following
hospitalization. Sarcopenia, or aging-related declines in skeletal muscle mass and strength is likely to be an
important risk factor for hospital-associated ADL disability in older adults, and this relationship may be
particularly relevant in older adults with AD/ADRD. A key barrier to understanding of the contribution of
sarcopenia to the development of hospital-associated ADL disability among those with AD/ADRD, is the need
for measures of muscle mass that are feasible in these patients in the acute care setting. Bedside portable
ultrasound-based measures of thigh muscle architecture are reliable and practical, correlate well with thigh
muscle strength in acutely-ill patients, and are already being successfully applied by my group to assess rectus
femoris cross-sectional area (RFCSA) in older adults hospitalized with sepsis. This administrative supplement
proposal is an extension of the existing K23 grant (5K23AG058756-01; “Sarcopenia as a Predictor of Hospital
Associated Disability in Older Adults”), which was awarded to determine the ability of sarcopenia,
operationalized as muscle mass and strength, to predict the development of activity of daily living (ADL)
disability among hospitalized older adults. The additional studies proposed herein will expand the current
research by adding an AD/ADRD focus that will investigate the use of bedside portable ultrasound measures in
AD/ADRD patients with sepsis ((n= 25 men (13 with dementia), 25 women (13 with dementia)) with the overall
objective of determining relationships of ultrasound-based measures of thigh muscle architecture with
functional outcomes of hospitalization in AD/ADRD patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10115975
- **Project number:** 3K23AG058756-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** James Andrews
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $261,105
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-08-15 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10115975

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10115975, Sarcopenia as a Predictor of Hospital-Associated Disability in Older Adults (3K23AG058756-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10115975. Licensed CC0.

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