TY  - JOUR
T1  - Sarcopenia, Nutritional Risk, and Functional Independence in Older Adults Receiving Palliative Care
A1  - Peter Novak
A1  - Sophie Dubois
A1  - Thomas Müller
A1  - Anna Weber
A1  - Erik Johansson
JF  - Journal of Integrative Nursing and Palliative Care
JO  - J Integr Nurs Palliat Care
SN  - 3006-5550
Y1  - 2026
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
DO  - 10.51847/S9qMpwjqN8
SP  - 226
EP  - 236
N2  - Functional independence in older adults receiving palliative care can deteriorate through interacting changes in skeletal muscle, nutritional status, disease burden, frailty, treatment exposure, and the environment in which daily activities are performed. Sarcopenia is therefore clinically important, although its meaning cannot be reduced to low muscle quantity or interpreted independently of nutritional and functional context. This conceptual article applies a functional-reserve perspective to examine how muscle mass, strength, physical performance, nutritional risk, inflammatory and catabolic burden, and frailty jointly shape the capacity to sustain meaningful activity during serious illness. Functional reserve is defined here as the conditional margin between a person’s current capabilities and the level of physiological, functional, and contextual stress at which meaningful activities become difficult to maintain or recover. The resulting account predicts nonlinear and potentially self-reinforcing relations between nutritional deterioration and functional decline. Functional independence in palliative care is thus best interpreted as an emergent outcome of interacting reserves and stressors rather than as a direct consequence of muscle mass alone.
UR  - https://journalinpc.com/article/sarcopenia-nutritional-risk-and-functional-independence-in-older-adults-receiving-palliative-care-7s7dtgtfpf0b3om
ER  -