Table 1.
Characteristics of the study participants
| Characteristics | Young control N = 23 |
ZA elderly N = 10 |
ZD elderly N = 21 |
ZD elderly + ZS N = 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender1, n (%) | ||||
| male | 12 (52) | 5 (50) | 8 (38) | 4 (40) |
| female | 11 (48) | 5 (50) | 13 (62) | 6 (60) |
| Age2, years | ||||
| mean ± SD | 24.2 ± 3.0b | 84.6 ± 8.1a | 85.7 ± 7.0a | 86.2 ± 5.0a |
| median | 23 | 86.5 | 85 | 86.5 |
| min, max | 20, 31 | 72, 96 | 71, 100 | 80, 94 |
| BMI3, kg/m2 | ||||
| mean ± SD | 23.5 ± 2.1a | 24.6 ± 4.4a | 25.9 ± 5.8a | 24.2 ± 5.4a |
| median | 24 | 24.8 | 24.7 | 24.5 |
| min, max | 18.4, 26.3 | 16.2, 33.8 | 14.9, 41.1 | 14.9, 35.2 |
| Diet form, n (%) | ||||
| omnivorous | 16 (70) | 10 (100) | 21 (100) | 10 (100) |
| vegetarian | 6 (26) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| vegan | 1 (4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Major hospital admission cause4, n (%) | ||||
| geriatric trauma | - | 5 (50) | 12 (57) | 5 (50) |
| cardiovascular disease | - | 2 (20) | 8 (38) | 5 (50) |
| others (metabolic, respiratory, or neurological disease) | - | 3 (30) | 1 (5) | 0 (0) |
| Length of hospital stay3, days | ||||
| mean ± SD | - | 13.3 ± 6.8a | 25.8 ± 18.7a | 23 ± 10.7a |
| median | - | 13.5 | 20 | 19.5 |
| min, max | - | 5, 26 | 4, 99 | 4, 44 |
| Major pre-existing conditions5, n (%) | ||||
| cardiovascular disease | - | 10 (100) | 21 (100) | 10 (100) |
| metabolic disease | - | 9 (90) | 13 (62) | 8 (80) |
| kidney disease | - | 3 (30) | 12 (57) | 5 (50) |
| musculoskeletal disease | - | 5 (50) | 9 (43) | 5 (50) |
| respiratory disease | - | 2 (20) | 8 (38) | 3 (30) |
| others (neurological, digestive, urogenital disease) | - | 8 (80) | 17 (81) | 7 (70) |
| Hospital Frailty Risk score3 | ||||
| mean ± SD | - | 9.0 ± 6.4a | 8.8 ± 6.0a | 7.5 ± 3.8a |
| median | - | 7.7 | 8.5 | 7.2 |
| min, max | - | 1.4, 21 | 0, 25.1 | 2.9, 14.8 |
| Medication used at hospital admission5, n (%) | ||||
| proton pump inhibitors | - | 7 (70) | 18 (86) | 8 (80) |
| diuretics | - | 6 (60) | 17 (81) | 7 (70) |
| anticoagulants/PAI | - | 6 (60) | 15 (71) | 8 (80) |
| analgesics | - | 4 (40) | 15 (71) | 7 (70) |
| ACEi/ARB | - | 7 (70) | 12 (57) | 4 (40) |
| beta-blockers | - | 7 (70) | 10 (48) | 4 (40) |
| other antihypertensives | - | 1 (10) | 9 (43) | 2 (20) |
| statins | - | 2 (20) | 9 (43) | 6 (60) |
| antidiabetics | - | 2 (20) | 3 (14) | 3 (30) |
| steroids | - | 1 (10) | 2 (10) | 2 (20) |
| others | - | 5 (50) | 14 (67) | 6 (60) |
Abbreviations: BMI Body mass index, ZA Zinc-adequate, ZD Zinc-deficient, ZS Zinc supplementation, PAI Platelet aggregation inhibitors, ACEi Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, ARB Angiotensin-II receptor blockers
1 Chi-square test (in this case: all p > 0.05, see text for details)
2 Kruskal–Wallis test and Dunn´s post-test. Means not sharing any letter (a or b) indicate statistical significance (p < 0.05)
3 One-way ANOVA and Tukey´s post-test. Means not sharing any letter (a or b) indicate statistical significance (p < 0.05)
4 under categories; while a hospitalization can, of course, have several reasons, for the sake of clarity we decided to indicate the most predominant one in each case
5 under categories