Page 69 - Petelin, Ana, and Šarabon, Nejc. 2018. Eds. Zdravje starostnikov / Health of the Elderly. Znanstvena monografija / Proceedings. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 69
Methods nutritional treatment of the elderly in nursing homes 69
The literature search was carried out in four databases, Pubmed, ScienceDirect,
Google Scholar and Medline, and was completed with a manual search on the
basis of the references given in the selected papers. Filter was applied in order
to select papers published in the last 10 years. In order to be included, papers
had to examine nutritional status of elderly, 65 years old or more. All types of
studies were included.
Research was conducted to determine the prevalence of malnutrition in
our nursing homes and compare the prevalence before nutritional treatment
with prevalence after establishment of nutritional treatment and to compare
our results with the literature. The eligibility criteria were the following: age 65
years and older, residents of DEOS nursing homes and willingness to partici-
pate in nutritional treatment. 1310 residents were included. The MNA-SF® (Mini
Nutritional Assessment – Short Form®) was used as the nutritional screening
instrument in accordance with ESPEN recommendations (Cederholm et al.,
2017). All the data and measurements were collected by health care profession-
als in cooperation with a clinical dietitian to assure unified measurements and
evaluation of MNA- SF®.
Results
Literature review
Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the prevalence of malnutri-
tion across a population that embraces different levels of healthcare. The
DREAM+65 Study used MNA screening-assessment instrument and showed
the prevalence of malnutrition in hospitals to be 21.7 % and the risk of mal-
nutrition 46.6 %. In nursing homes, the prevalence of malnutrition and the
risk of malnutrition is slightly lower than in hospitals; 30.9 % of elderly are at
risk of malnutrition and 15.6 % are malnourished (Cuerda et al., 2016). Results
of a study carried out in 11 nursing homes in Sweden evaluated 318 subjects.
The prevalence, according to MNA assessment of malnutrition was 17.7 % and
for the risk of malnutrition, 40.3 %. After 24 months, the nutritional status of
38.7 % subjects worsened (Bolmsjö et al., 2014). A Turkish study was conduct-
ed on 402 nursing home residents. The aim of this study was to determine the
prevalence of malnutrition risk and sarcopenia in elderly nursing home res-
idents. According to MNA, 56.5 % of subjects had normal nutritional status,
24.8 % were at risk of malnutrition and 18.7 % were malnourished (Sakaa et al.,
2015). Aukner et al. conducted research across Oslo’s 21 nursing homes. 358 res-
idents with dementia or cognitive impairment, of whom 46 % lived in special
care units, were included. Nutritional status was assessed using the Malnutri-
tion Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and anthropometry. 67 % were classi-
fied as being at low risk, 20 % at medium risk, and 13 % at high risk of malnutri-
tion. There was no significant difference between residents in open and special
care units, assessed by MUST (Aukner et al., 2013). A study conducted in Leb-
The literature search was carried out in four databases, Pubmed, ScienceDirect,
Google Scholar and Medline, and was completed with a manual search on the
basis of the references given in the selected papers. Filter was applied in order
to select papers published in the last 10 years. In order to be included, papers
had to examine nutritional status of elderly, 65 years old or more. All types of
studies were included.
Research was conducted to determine the prevalence of malnutrition in
our nursing homes and compare the prevalence before nutritional treatment
with prevalence after establishment of nutritional treatment and to compare
our results with the literature. The eligibility criteria were the following: age 65
years and older, residents of DEOS nursing homes and willingness to partici-
pate in nutritional treatment. 1310 residents were included. The MNA-SF® (Mini
Nutritional Assessment – Short Form®) was used as the nutritional screening
instrument in accordance with ESPEN recommendations (Cederholm et al.,
2017). All the data and measurements were collected by health care profession-
als in cooperation with a clinical dietitian to assure unified measurements and
evaluation of MNA- SF®.
Results
Literature review
Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the prevalence of malnutri-
tion across a population that embraces different levels of healthcare. The
DREAM+65 Study used MNA screening-assessment instrument and showed
the prevalence of malnutrition in hospitals to be 21.7 % and the risk of mal-
nutrition 46.6 %. In nursing homes, the prevalence of malnutrition and the
risk of malnutrition is slightly lower than in hospitals; 30.9 % of elderly are at
risk of malnutrition and 15.6 % are malnourished (Cuerda et al., 2016). Results
of a study carried out in 11 nursing homes in Sweden evaluated 318 subjects.
The prevalence, according to MNA assessment of malnutrition was 17.7 % and
for the risk of malnutrition, 40.3 %. After 24 months, the nutritional status of
38.7 % subjects worsened (Bolmsjö et al., 2014). A Turkish study was conduct-
ed on 402 nursing home residents. The aim of this study was to determine the
prevalence of malnutrition risk and sarcopenia in elderly nursing home res-
idents. According to MNA, 56.5 % of subjects had normal nutritional status,
24.8 % were at risk of malnutrition and 18.7 % were malnourished (Sakaa et al.,
2015). Aukner et al. conducted research across Oslo’s 21 nursing homes. 358 res-
idents with dementia or cognitive impairment, of whom 46 % lived in special
care units, were included. Nutritional status was assessed using the Malnutri-
tion Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and anthropometry. 67 % were classi-
fied as being at low risk, 20 % at medium risk, and 13 % at high risk of malnutri-
tion. There was no significant difference between residents in open and special
care units, assessed by MUST (Aukner et al., 2013). A study conducted in Leb-
