CORRELATIONS BETWEEN NUTRITIONAL SCREENING SCORE AND ANTHROPOMETRIC PARAMETERS IN INSTITUTIONALIZED ELDERLY Cover Image

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN NUTRITIONAL SCREENING SCORE AND ANTHROPOMETRIC PARAMETERS IN INSTITUTIONALIZED ELDERLY
CORRELATIONS BETWEEN NUTRITIONAL SCREENING SCORE AND ANTHROPOMETRIC PARAMETERS IN INSTITUTIONALIZED ELDERLY

Author(s): Laura Mihalache, Otilia Nita, Andreea Gherasim, Alina Popa, Mariana Graur, Lidia Iuliana Arhire
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Health and medicine and law, Gerontology
Published by: Expert Projects Publishing
Keywords: elderly; nutritional status; nutritional screening algorithm; institutionalized elderly; quality of life;

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study is to assess nutritional status in a group of institutionalized elderly and to establish correlations between nutritional screening score and anthropometric parameters. We analyzed a sample of 156 seniors, 62 (39.7%) men, 94 (60.3%) women, to whom we performed nutritional screening using Mini Nutritional Assessment - MNA and we evaluated anthropometric parameters (body mass index - BMI, waist circumference - WC, calf circumference - CC and midupper arm circumference - MUAC). In the group of elderly institutionalized to whom the MNA has been applied, 69.2% had optimal nutritional status, 24.4% had a score of screening indicating risk of malnutrition and 6.4% had a screening score corresponding to malnutrition. A significantly higher percentage of women had a screening score indicating malnutrition (9.6% vs. 1.6%) and a screening score showing risk of malnutrition (26.6% vs. 21%) (p=0.029). Analysis by gender showed strong correlation between BMI and WC value (r = 0.869) in men, and between MUAC and CC value (r = 0.838) in women (p<0.001). Nutritional screening score was positively correlated with all anthropometric parameters (r>0.400, p<0.001), the strongest correlation being recorded with CC (r = 0.528). MNA short form (MNA-SF) represents a useful tool for rapid nutritional screening of elderly, enabling the identification of individuals at risk for malnutrition and those with a score indicating malnutrition. Calf circumference is a parameter which is positively correlated with nutritional screening score in institutionalized elderly population, and can be proposed as a starting point in nutritional assessment algorithm.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 50
  • Page Range: 111-121
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: English