ArticleAge and ageing2025
Quadriceps muscle thickness as measured by point-of-care ultrasound is associated with hospital length of stay among hospitalised older patients.
Article in Age and ageing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Muscle point-of-care ultrasound as a predictor of mortality in older adults with hip fracture.European geriatric medicine · 2026Observational
- Article
- Skeletal muscle thickness and echo intensity may reflect the risk of malnutrition and physical dysfunction in acutely hospitalized older patients.European geriatric medicine · 2026Article
- Reference Values of Quadriceps Muscle Thickness Measured by Point-of-Care Ultrasound by Sex and Age Groups in Older Adults.Canadian geriatrics journal : CGJ · 2026Article
- Tibialis anterior pennation angle at ICU admission and 60-day mortality in critically ill patients: a prospective observational study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
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7 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundPredicting hospital length of stay (LOS) can potentially improve healthcare resource allocation. Recent studies suggest that point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), specifically measurements of muscle thickness (MT), may be valuable in assessing patient outcomes, including LOS. This study investigates the hypothesis that quadriceps MT and echo intensity (EI) can predict patient outcomes, particularly LOS.
methodsQuadriceps MT and EI were measured using POCUS in patients admitted to a hospital's acute medical unit. Predictor variables included age, sex, MT, EI and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). The outcome variable was hospital LOS.
resultsOne hundred twenty participants were included (average age 76 ± 7, with 64 women and 56 men). The mean LOS was 27 ± 31 days, and the mean MT was 20 ± 6 mm. Sex-based differences in MT were statistically significant (P = .032). Patients with prolonged LOS over 30 days had lower MT (mean 17 mm vs. 21 mm, P < .0001). One unit increase in MT was significantly associated with ~1.5 fewer days of hospital LOS, and one CCI score increase was associated with almost three more days of hospital LOS. Having low MT significantly increased the odds of staying in the hospital longer than 30 days by more than three times in all models.
conclusionMuscle thickness is a strong predictor of hospital LOS, highlighting the potential of POCUS for assessing patient outcomes.
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