Objective To explore the influencing factors of disability degree in elderly hospitalized patients with disability and the correlations of disability with malnutrition and sarcopenia.

Methods A total of 234 elderly hospitalized patients with disability were selected as study subjects. The Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale, Mini-nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF), and Sarcopenia Five-item Criteria with calf circumference (SARC-CalF) were used to investigate the status of disability, nutrition, and sarcopenia in patients. The clinical characteristics of different types of patients were compared, and correlations of disability with malnutrition and sarcopenia were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors of the degree of disability in patients.

Results Of the 234 patients, 46.58%(109/234) had mild disability, 45.30%(106/234) had moderate disability, and 8.12%(19/234) had severe disability. The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that the degree of disability (ADL score) in elderly hospitalized patients with disability was significantly correlated with the degree of malnutrition (MNA-SF score) and sarcopenia (SARC-CalF score) (r=0.177, -0.193, P=0.007, 0.003). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that malnutrition and sarcopenia were influencing factors of the degree of disability in elderly hospitalized patients with disability (P < 0.05).

Conclusion There are correlations of disability with malnutrition and sarcopenia in elderly hospitalized patients with disability. The risk of exacerbation of disability is significantly increased in patients with malnutrition and sarcopenia. Therefore, clinicians need to identify high-risk patients as early as possible and provide targeted intervention measures.