Dorner TE, Luger E, Tschinderle J, et al.
J Nutr Health Aging 2014;18:264-9
Publication date: March 1, 2014
Summary
The authors explored the association between the impaired nutritional status and frailty in acute hospitalized elderly patients by using the MNA®-SF (Mini Nutritional Assessment® short-form) and the SHARE-FI (Frailty Instrument for Primary Care of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe). MNA®-SF was used to investigate malnutrition (<7 points) and patients at risk of malnutrition (8 to 11 points) and using SHARE-FI subjects were classified as frail, pre-frail or robust.
Malnutrition or risk of malnutrition was found in 76.7% of the total sample and in 46.8% of robust, in 69.0% of pre-frail, and in 93.0% of frail participants. Frailty or prefrailty was found in 75.9% of the total sample and in 45.1% of the subjects with no risk of malnutrition, in 80.9% of subjects at risk of malnutrition, and in 94.1% of malnourished patients.
This study underlines the association and the overlap between frailty and impaired nutritional status.