Poor nutritional habits are predictors of poor outcome in very old hospitalized patients

Abstract

The prevalence of malnutrition was high in elderly hospitalized patients. Dietary habits were significant predictors of poor hospitalization outcome. A questionnaire on dietary habits can serve as a useful tool in assessing nutritional status and prognosis in elderly patients.

Nutritional status predicts preterm death in older people: A prospective cohort study

“…[15][16][17][18] In these studies, the proportion of well-nourished patients varied between 17% and 59%, while the proportion of malnourished patients varied between 16% and 49%. Thus, the smallest proportion of well-nourished and malnourished patients one would expect, in an extreme case, would be 17% well nourished and 16% malnourished patients.…”

Food preferences and aversions in human health and nutrition: how can pigs help the biomedical research?

“…During the past century, the proportion of older individuals in developed countries has increased to a considerable extent and continues to grow rapidly. A decline in appetite is often observed in this population and is logically associated with a decreased food intake (for a review, see MacIntosh et al, 2000; Beckoff et al, 2001;Kagansky et al, 2005;Fetissov et al, 2009). This phenomenon is known as 'physiological anorexia of ageing'.…”

“…This phenomenon is known as 'physiological anorexia of ageing'. Consequently, malnutrition is frequent in elderly populations, even in the developed countries, and even among the hospitalized elderly, nutritional status can be poor (MacIntosh et al, 2000;Kagansky et al, 2005). As for cancer patients, malnutrition is found to negatively influence the quality of life of older adults in nursing homes (Crogan and Pasvogel, 2003).…”

“…Moreover, poor nutritional status has been implicated in the development and progression of chronic diseases commonly affecting the elderly and leading to complications during hospitalization, poorer clinical outcome and increased mortality (Kagansky et al, 2005). Malnutrition is a predictor of long hospital stay and high mortality in geriatric and cancer patients (Chima et al, 1997;Kagansky et al, 2005).…”

“…Moreover, poor nutritional status has been implicated in the development and progression of chronic diseases commonly affecting the elderly and leading to complications during hospitalization, poorer clinical outcome and increased mortality (Kagansky et al, 2005). Malnutrition is a predictor of long hospital stay and high mortality in geriatric and cancer patients (Chima et al, 1997;Kagansky et al, 2005).St-Arnaud-McKenzie et al (2004) suggest that the development of nutritional interventions to maintain hunger and reduce aversion may be necessary to ensure optimal food intake among hospitalized people (cancer patients, geriatric patients, etc.). For instance, Beckoff et al (2001) showed that the use of glucose or other carbohydrate supplements in the diet can increase the total energy intake of older subjects and thus prevent weight loss in the elderly.…”