Demographical, sociomedical and physical characteristics in relation to malnutrition in geriatric patients

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare demographical, sociomedical and physical characteristics between protein-energy malnourished and non-malnourished geriatric patients on admission. According to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 104 malnourished patients were age-, gender- and diagnosis-matched with 104 non-malnourished patients. Data were collected from patients' medical records. The patient's condition was assessed by a modified Norton scale on admission. No differences were seen in marital status, type of dwelling, previous need for help service, residence before admission, and dependence on assistance with ADL function. The malnourished patients had a greater consumption of diuretics (47%; P less than 0.05) and a lower consumption of analgesics (29%; P less than 0.05) than the non-malnourished patients (33% and 42% respectively). In the malnourished group, impaired conditions in activity (83%; P less than 0.05), and general physical condition (78%; P less than 0.01) were observed compared to the non-malnourished group (69% and 60% respectively). The malnourished patients had less sufficient food intake (41% vs 21%; P less than 0.01) and fluid intake (25% vs 10%; P less than 0.01) than non-malnourished patients. This study indicates that demographical characteristics and primary ADL-functions are of minor importance for the development of protein-energy malnutrition in geriatric patients. Observation of the patients' physical condition and drug consumption seemed more important on admission.

The Relationship of Classes of Commonly Prescribed Medications to Functional Status and Quality of Life for Frail Home-Based Older Adults

“…Although Unosson, Ek, Bjurulf, and Larsson (1991) demonstrated that diuretics were inversely associated with ADLs, we found a positive association to cognition. In contrast to a previous study (Ried, Johnson, & Gettman, 1998), our study showed a positive association of CNS medications to cognition.…”

Social isolation, support, and capital and nutritional risk in an older sample: ethnic and gender differences

“…Poverty is a major factor contributing to poor nutritional intake (Cohen, Burt, & Schulte, 1993;Unosson, Ek, Bjurulf, & Larsson, 1991;Roe, 1990;McIntosh et al, 1989;Davis et al, 1985). Older persons on Medicaid, who represent the poor of society, have been found to be at particularly high nutritional risk (Posner et al, 1993;Frongillo et al, 1992).…”

The Risk of the Development of Protein-Energy Malnutrition and Competence on a Healthy Diet of Elderly Patients

“…Однако доля участников, нуж-дающихся в помощи при выполнении простейших манипуляций, а именно, пользование туалетом, умывание и купание, одевание и раздевание, а так-же укладывание в постель и вставание с нее, был значительно ниже: мужчины -10%, женщины -менее 20% [9]. По данным Департамента здраво-охранения США за 1996 г., около 23% людей пожи-лого возраста имеют трудности в самообслужива-нии, например, при выполнении гигиенических процедур, переодевании, приеме пищи, самостоя-тельном передвижении, к тому же потеря одной или нескольких функций из перечисленных яв-ляется фактором риска развития недостаточно-сти питания [20,21]. Все эти данные подтвержда-ют, что зависимость от посторонней помощи яв-ляется неоспоримым фактором риска развития БН у пациентов старшей возрастной группы.…”