Food Intake of Hospitalized Elderly and Its Influence on Muscular and Clinical Outcomes

The objectives of the present study are: 1) to characterize the energy-protein intake of the elderly during hospitalization; 2) to verify the influence of energy-protein intake during hospitalization on muscular (i.e., cross-sectional area of the rectus femoris and vastus lateralis muscles, muscle strength, functionality and level of independence) and clinical (i.e., length of hospital stay, hospital readmission and mortality) at the time of hospital discharge, 2 and 6 months after hospital discharge and; 3) to verify whether energy-protein intake during hospitalization is a significant predictor of loss of function and muscle mass, length of hospital stay, hospital readmission rate and mortality.