Computed tomography-based body composition profile as a screening tool for geriatric frailty detection

Objective: To assess prevalence of CT imaging-derived sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and visceral obesity in clinically frail and prefrail patients and determine their association with the diagnosis of frailty.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was constructed using our institution's pelvic trauma registry and ambulatory database registry. The study included all elderly pelvic trauma patients and ambulatory outpatients between May 2016 and March 2020 who had a comprehensive geriatric assessment and CT abdomen/pelvis within 1 year from the date of the assessment. Patients were dichotomized in prefrail or frail groups. The study excluded patients with history of metastatic disease or malignancy requiring chemotherapy.

Results: The study cohort consisted of 151 elderly female and 65 male patients. Each gender population was subdivided into frail (114 female [75%], 51 male [78%]) and prefrail (37 female [25%], 14 male [22%]) patients. CT-imaging-derived diagnosis of osteoporosis (odds ratio, 2.5; 95% CI: 1.2-5.5) and sarcopenia (odds ratio, 2.6; 95% CI: 1.2-5.6) were associated with frailty in females, but did not reach statistical significance in males. BMI and subcutaneous adipose tissue at L3 level were statistically lower in the frail male group compared to the prefrail group. BMI showed strong correlation with the subcutaneous area at the L3 level in both genders (Spearman's coefficient of 0.8, p < 0.001). Hypoalbuminemia and visceral obesity were not associated with frailty in either gender.

Conclusion: This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the feasibility of using CT-derived body-composition parameters as a screening tool for frailty, which can offer an opportunity for early medical intervention.