Screening for Malnutrition in Older Hospitalised Patients in an Internal Medicine Department of a Greek Public Hospital by Ioannis Kyriazis in Archives of Diabetes & Obesity(ADO)- Lupine Publishers
Background: Malnutrition is a major public health concern that frequently tends to be unrecognized and untreated. About
1/3 of all patients in the hospital are undernourished globally. Malnutrition is significantly more common in older adults, and
consequently they are in danger of suffering from malnutrition prior to their admission.
Aim: The objectives of the present study were to estimate the
prevalence and severity of malnutrition, along with recent weight
loss, in older adults admitted to a department of internal medicine in
public general hospital in Greece. Methods: Data was collected
from a total sample of 127 patients (>65 years old) recruited from
the patients admitted to an internal medicine ward by conducting
a cross-sectional study. Nutritional status was assessed by using the
Mini Nutritional Assessment - Short Form (MNA-SF).
Results: The median age of participants was 78 (SD 7.2 years),
and among them, 61.4% were women. The prevalence of
malnutrition in the hospitalized older patients was 19.7%. According to
MNA-SF, 52.7% of older patients were at risk of malnutrition,
and among them, 27.6% had decreased food intake during the last three
months. During the last three months, 19.7% experienced
an unintentional weight loss more than three kg. Additionally, 15% of
participants with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 23 kg/
m2 were classified as malnourished, and only 33% of them were classified
with no nutritional problem (p=0.003). Among the 25
malnourished older patients identified by MNA-SF, only 8 were prescribed
Oral Nutritional Supplements (O.N.S).
Conclusion: The high prevalence of malnourished patients and
older patients at risk of malnutrition emphasizes the need
for hospitals to adopt a particular policy and a specific set of
clinical protocols to identify patients at nutritional risk leading to
an appropriate nutritional care plan. Early identification by a
validated screening tool, could lead to an effective management of
malnutrition.
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