Adductor Pollicis Muscle Thickness in Oncologic Population

Introduction: Malnutrition is highly prevalent in the oncologic population and is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the advanced stages of the disease. The adductor pollicis muscle thickness (APMT) seems to be an important variable to assess muscle compartment. Objective: To establish cutoff point for malnutrition from APMT among hospitalized oncologic patients. Method: Cross-sectional study with 100 oncologic patients hospitalized in a general hospital in Porto Alegre – RS, aged ≥20 years, admitted at the outpatient and evaluated within the first 72 hours of hospital admission. Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) was performed; weight, height, arm circumference (AC), tricipital skinfold (TSF), calf circumference (CC), APMT of the dominant (APMTDH) and nondominant hand (APMTNDH) were measured; arm muscle circumference (AMC) and body mass index (BMI) were calculated. Results: According to the SGA, 31% of the sample was moderately malnourished and 33%, severely malnourished. Malnourished patients had significantly lower values of BMI, AC, TSF, CC, APMTDH and APMTNDH, as well as, longer hospital stay and death. The best cutoff point for APMTDH for the malnutrition outcome was 13.2 mm, (sensitivity of 65% and specificity of 75%) and for APMTNDH, 13.3 mm, with a sensitivity of 65% and specificity of 77%. Conclusion: The best cutoff point proposed in this study for APMTDH for the outcome malnutrition was 13.2 mm and 13.3 mm for APMTNDH. However, further studies are needed to confirm our findings.