The Impact of Intrinsic Capacity on Adverse Outcomes in Older Hospitalized Patients: A One-Year Follow-Up Study

Background: Intrinsic capacity (IC) is a novel view focusing on healthy aging. The effect of IC on adverse outcomes in older hospitalized Chinese adults is rarely studied. Objectives: This study focused on investigating the impact of IC domains on the adverse health outcomes including new activities of daily living (ADL) dependency, new instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) dependency, and mortality over a 1-year follow-up. Methods: In a retrospective observational population-based study, a total of 329 older hospitalized patients from Zhejiang Hospital in China were enrolled and completed 1-year follow-up. The 5 domains of IC including cognition, locomotion, sensory, vitality, and psychological capacity were assessed at admission. The IC composite score was calculated based on these domains, and the higher IC composite score indicated the greater amount of functional capacities reserved. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to explore the association between IC at baseline and 1-year adverse outcomes. Results: During the 1-year follow-up, 69 patients (22.5%) experienced new ADL dependency, 103 patients (33.6%) suffered from new IADL dependency, and 22 patients (6.7%) died. After adjusting for age, sex, education level, comorbidities, and polypharmacy, low Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores at admission predicted 1-year new ADL dependency (odds ratio [OR] = 2.31, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12–4.78) and new IADL dependency (OR = 2.15, 95% CI: 1.14–4.04) among older hospitalized patients, but no significance was obtained between IC domains and mortality. Higher IC composite score at admission was associated with decreased risks of 1-year new ADL dependency (OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.40–0.70) and new IADL dependency (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.61–0.95), and 1-year mortality (OR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.31–0.74) after adjustment for the possible confounders. Conclusions: Loss of ICs at admission predicted adverse health outcomes including new ADL and IADL dependency and mortality 1 year after discharge among older hospitalized patients.