Minghao Liang,1,* Xiuhong Ren,2,* Qiuxiang Zhang,3 Zhishen Ruan,1 Minyan Jin,1 Yifei Xu,1 Xianhai Chen,4 Zhanjun Qiu5 

1First Clinical Medical College, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Critical Care Medicine, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Cardiology, Jinxiang People’s Hospital, Jining, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Gerontology, The Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Xianhai Chen, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, People’s Republic of China, Email chenxianhai18@163.com Zhanjun Qiu, Department of Gerontology, The Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, People’s Republic of China, Email qiuzhj227@163.com

Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at high risk of developing frailty and need to be prevented and managed. This study aims to investigate the relationship between dietary magnesium (Mg) intake and the risk of frailty in patients with COPD.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the United States, focusing on patients with COPD. We used logistic regression to determine the adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Curve fitting, subgroup analysis, and sensitivity analysis were performed to further assess the relationship between dietary Mg intake and frailty in patients with COPD.
Results: There were 1696 participants in this study, and the mean age was 60.4 ± 0.4 years. Weighted logistic regression and curve fitting showed a linear relationship between dietary Mg intake and frailty in patients with COPD. The risk of frailty decreased by 15% for each 100-unit increase in Mg intake (OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.76– 0.96). Participants in the highest quartile Q4 of Mg intake had a lower risk of frailty than those in the lowest quartile Q1 (OR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.32– 0.72).
Conclusion: There is a linear relationship between dietary Mg intake and frailty in patients with COPD. Increasing dietary Mg intake is associated with a decreased risk of frailty in COPD.

Keywords: magnesium, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, frailty, ageing