Screening for Malnutrition in Older Hospitalised Patients in an Internal Medicine Department of a Greek Public Hospital
Journal Title: Archives of Diabetes & Obesity - Year 2019, Vol 2, Issue 1
Abstract
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.
Authors and Affiliations
Ioannis Kyriazis, Fotios Panagiotis Tatakis, Theodora Lappa, Emmanuel Kalafatis, Amalia Tsagari, Dimitra Latsou, Paraskevi Koufopoulou
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP589337
- DOI 10.32474/ADO.2019.02.000128
- Views 60
- Downloads 0
Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Saudi Population
Background and Objective: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic factors. The prevalence of MetS are increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence as well as the individual comp...
Depression‐Level Effectiveness of the Curse Words in Young Adults in Pune University
Depression and substance abuse has on the increase all over the world. The poor and the rich are also involved in this dangerous habit that has impact not only on reproductive health but also has an impact on family, soc...
Lack of Evidence for Window Cancer of Healthy Adults Attending Low Standards Pharmacy Institutions in Pune
Cancer abuse has on the increase all over the world. The poor and the rich are also involved in this dangerous epidemic that has impact not only on reproductive health but also has an impact on family, society, increase...
Comparative Study of Degree of Low Grade Chronic Inflammatory Status in Freshly Diagnosed Type 1 with Type 2 Diabetic Patients
Low grade inflammatory condition which is predominately cytokine-mediated is observed to be closely involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes as well as role this inflammatory condition cannot be ruled out in invol...
Differences in participant classification and intervention effects based on HbA1C and fasting plasma glucose among a community sample of African Americans
Since 2010, the American Diabetes Association has endorsed both HbA1C (A1C) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) to determine diabetes risk. Given the discordance between classifications based on FPG and A1C and higher A1C l...