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The consequences of sarcopenia on quality are difficult to evaluate and consequently are quite poorly studied. The few studies assessing the quality of life in sarcopenic subjects currently use generic quality of life questionnaires such as SF-36 and EQ-5D. The SarcoPhAge study, conducted on a cohort developed in Liège including 534 subjects of 65 years or older, suggested that sarcopenic subjects present a significant worse quality of life in the domains of physical function compared to non-sarcopenic subjects. Generic tools do not cover exhaustively all the areas of potential dysfunction concerned in this geriatric syndrome. Yet, there is no specific and validated quality of life questionnaire for sarcopenia. It would be useful to have at our disposal a sarcopenia specific quality of life questionnaire to assess not only the prospective quality of life of sarcopenic subjects but also to assess the efficacy and the relevance of new therapeutic and preventive strategies developed in the field of sarcopenia.

pnv.2011.0296 Auteur(s) : Jean Petermans President de la SBGG-BVGG Editorial Comme chaque annee, depuis 14 ans, les journees d’etudes organisees par l’aile francophone de la SBGG-BVGG se derouleront a Liege, en bord de Meuse, les 21 et 22 octobre 2011. Les differents volontaires participant a l’organisation de l’evenement n’ont pas menage leur peine pour une fois de plus, nous proposer un programme particulierement attrayant. Diverses sessions se derouleront le vendredi [...]

Swallowing disorders are common among elderly patients. Laryngeal penetration is among the most serious complications, resulting in airway obstruction, aspiration pneumonia or pneumonitis. Early diagnosis is therefore very important.The main objective of this study is to identify factors associated with anamnestic and clinical onset of laryngeal penetration.The study population is constituted of 127 consecutive patients hospitalized in our geriatric department. All following parameters were assessed: the patient's home, the reason for hospitalization, the medical history, treatment, anthropometric and biological parameters (nutritional status), a comprehensive geriatric assessment, a speech-language ability assessment and water swallow test according to DePippo method. All these parameters were correlated with the outcome of nasopharyngeal endoscopy.A total of 127 patients (mean age of 84 ± 5 years) (average score of MMSE of 22) were evaluated. Most of them came from their home. The mean values of the Katz and Lawton scales were 9 ± 5.5 and 27 ± 8, respectively. About two third of patients had mood disorders (GDS 1). A laryngeal penetration was present in 44% of cases. It occurred more frequently in patients taking neuroleptics, in those with a history of stroke, in case of extra-pyramidal syndrome or when the MMSE was pathological. The temporo-spatial disorientation, the presence of a salivary flow, the inability to perform adequately the different items of the speech-language evaluation and the failure to achieve proper water swallowing test were also related to the presence of laryngeal penetrations. With multivariate analysis, after adjusting for all significant variables, abnormal water swallowing test (P = 0.0002, OR 13) emerged as the sole independent parameter associated with laryngeal penetrations.Laryngeal penetration is associated with hospital mortality and impaired geriatric status. It could thus represent a marker of the overall frailty. In a frail geriatric population, the water-swallowing test helps to identify patients at risk of laryngeal penetration.