Ceker Eda, Fadiloglu Ayse, Cataltepe Esra, Sendur Halit Nahit, Allahverdiyeva Seriyye, Varan Hacer Dogan
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Gazi University, 06560, Ankara, Turkey.
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
Eur Geriatr Med. 2024 Oct;15(5):1461-1468. doi: 10.1007/s41999-024-01023-9. Epub 2024 Aug 1.
The Achilles tendon (AT) is the largest and strongest tendon in the human body, and its elasticity is known to be affected by the aging process. However, the relation between AT stiffness and frailty in older individuals remains uncertain. This study aims to explore the potential of Achilles tendon shear wave elastography (AT-SWE) as a tool for assessing physical frailty in older adults.
A total of 148 patients aged 65 years and over were included in this cross-sectional study. Patients with heart failure, AT injury, stroke history, active malignancy, and claudication were excluded. All patients underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment. Physical frailty assessment was performed with the fried frailty phenotype. Achilles tendon elastography was measured by ultrasound.
The mean age of the participants was 73.8 years and 62.2% were female. 30.4% of the participants were defined as frail. Achilles tendon shear wave elastography measurements were statistically lower in the frail group (p < 0.05). In the multivariate regression analysis, AT-SWE demonstrated a statistically significant association with frailty independent of confounding factors (OR 0.982, 95% CI 0.965-0.999, p value = 0.038). In the ROC curve analysis, the area under the curve for AT-SWE was 0.647 (95% CI, 0.564-0.724, p < 0.01) and the optimum cut-off point was 124.1 kilopascals.
These findings highlight the value of AT-SWE as a non-invasive and objective tool for predicting frailty in older adults.
跟腱是人体最大且最强壮的肌腱，已知其弹性会受衰老过程影响。然而，老年人跟腱硬度与身体虚弱之间的关系仍不明确。本研究旨在探讨跟腱剪切波弹性成像（AT-SWE）作为评估老年人身体虚弱工具的潜力。
本横断面研究共纳入148名65岁及以上的患者。排除患有心力衰竭、跟腱损伤、中风史、活动性恶性肿瘤和跛行的患者。所有患者均接受了全面的老年评估。采用Fried虚弱表型进行身体虚弱评估。通过超声测量跟腱弹性成像。
参与者的平均年龄为73.8岁，女性占62.2%。30.4%的参与者被定义为虚弱。虚弱组的跟腱剪切波弹性成像测量值在统计学上较低（p<0.05）。在多变量回归分析中，AT-SWE显示出与虚弱存在统计学上的显著关联，且独立于混杂因素（OR 0.982，95%CI 0.965-0.999，p值=0.038）。在ROC曲线分析中，AT-SWE的曲线下面积为0.647（95%CI，0.564-0.724，p<0.01），最佳截断点为124.1千帕斯卡。
这些发现凸显了AT-SWE作为预测老年人虚弱的非侵入性客观工具的价值。
