journal articles
CAN AN INTERVENTION WITH TESTOSTERONE AND NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT IMPROVE THE FRAILTY LEVEL OF UNDER-NOURISHED OLDER PEOPLE?
O. Theou, I. Chapman, L. Wijeyaratne, C. Piantadosi, K. Lange, V. Naganathan, P. Hunter, I.D. Cameron, K. Rockwood, R. Visvanathan
J Frailty Aging 2016;5(4):247-252
Objective: To examine whether a testosterone and a high calorie nutritional supplement intervention can reduce frailty scores in undernourished older people using multiple frailty tools. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting/Participants: 53 community-dwelling, undernourished men and women aged >65 years from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Intervention: Intervention group received oral testosterone undecanoate and a high calorie supplement (2108-2416 kJ/day) whereas the control group received placebo testosterone and low calorie supplement (142-191 kJ/day). Measurements: Frailty was operationalized using three frailty indices (FI-lab, FI-self-report, FI-combined) and the frailty phenotype. Results: There were no significant differences in changes in frailty scores at either 6 or 12 months follow up between the two treatment groups for all scales. Participants at the intervention group were 4.8 times more likely to improve their FI-combined score at both time points compared to the placebo group. Conclusion: A testosterone and a high calorie nutritional supplement intervention did not improve the frailty levels of under-nourished older people. Even so, when frailty was measured using a frailty index combining self-reported and lab data we found that participants who received the intervention were more likely to show persistent improvement in their frailty scores.
CITATION:
O. Theou ; I. Chapman ; L. Wijeyaratne ; C. Piantadosi ; K. Lange ; V. Naganathan ; P. Hunter ; I.D. Cameron ; K. Rockwood ; R. Visvanathan (2016): Can an intervention with testosterone and nutritional supplement improve the frailty level of under-nourished older people?. The Journal of Frailty and Aging (JFA). http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2016.108