Malnutrition and related factors in elderly patients

Abstract

Introduction: Malnutrition is an important cause of mortality and morbidity. In this study, malnutrition related factors were investigated in geriatric patients.Methods: Between January 2016 and December 2017, 408 patients aged 65 and over admitted to the Istanbul Medical Faculty Geriatrics Outpatient Clinic were included in the study. Patients with edema, whose anthropometric measurements could not be performed and who did not agree to participate in the study were excluded from the study. Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) test was used to evaluate nutritional status. Patients with a score of 11 and less were accepted as malnourished. Patients were divided into two groups as malnour- ished and non- malnourished. Anthropometric measurements and geriatric syndromes were compared between the two groups. Uni- variate analysis (chi-square, Mann-Whitney U) for malnutrition parameters and logistic regression analysis for factors related to nutritional status were used. Results: Malnutrition was found in 29.1% of the patients (n = 119). The mean age of the patients was 76.9 ± 6.8 (min 65, max 95). Between groups with and without malnutrition, significant differences were found for educational status, urinary incontinence, difficulty in swallowing, dementia and depression (p = 0.005, p = 0.013, p = 0.038, p 0.001, p = 0.001, respectively). In logistic regression analysis, urinary incontinence (p 0.001, OR = 1.254) and dyspha- gia (p 0.009, OR = 3.378) were associated with malnutrition. Conclusions: Malnutrition is an important public health problem. The association of malnutrition with other geriatric syndromes was also shown in our study. Therefore, all cases with risk of malnutrition should be screened for other geriatric syndromes. Keywords: Malnutrition, Geriatrics, Geriatric syndromes.