Serum albumin levels and their correlates among individuals with motor disorders at five institutions in Japan.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The level of serum albumin is an index of nourishment care and management. However, the distribution and correlates of serum albumin levels among individuals with motor disorders have not been reported until now. Therefore, we examined the distribution and correlates of serum albumin levels among individuals with motor disorders.

SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional study on 249 individuals with motor disabilities (144 men, mean age: 51.4 years; 105 women, mean age: 51.4 years) was conducted at five institutions in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan in 2008. The results were compared with data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey.

RESULTS: The mean serum albumin levels were 4.0 ± 0.4 g/dL for men and 3.8 ± 0.5 g/dL for women. Overall, 17 (11.8%) men and 25 (23.8%) women had hypoalbuminemia (serum albumin level ≤ 3.5 g/dL); these proportions were greater than those among healthy Japanese adults (≤ 1%). Low serum albumin level was related with female sex, older age, low calf circumference, low relative daily energy intake, low hemoglobin (Hb), low blood platelet count, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low HbA1c, and high C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. The strongest correlates, based on standardized betas, were Hb (0.321), CRP (-0.279), and HDL-C (0.279) levels.

CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the prevalence of hypoalbuminemia is higher in individuals with motor disabilities than in healthy individuals and that inflammation is a strong negative correlate of serum albumin levels. Therefore, inflammation should be examined for the assessment of hypoalbuminemia among institutionalized individuals with motor disabilities.