Comparison of Tests Used in Malnutrition in Hospitalized Geriatric Patients, Relationship with Anthropometric Measurements and Hand Grip Strength

Abstract

Objective: There is no single test and recommended method ideal for nutritional risk assessment in hospitalized elderly patients. In this study, weintended to screen hospitalized elderly patients for malnutrition by using two tests and compare the results with anthropometric measurementsand hand grip strength test and describe the relationship between them.Materials and Methods: In this study, we evaluated 200 hospitalized patients aged 60 years and over in the internal medicine, cardiology andInfectious diseases departments. We applied nutritional risk screening (NRS 2002) with the hand grip test and the mini nutritional assessment(MNA). Body Mass index and upper arm and calf circumference measurements were recorded. Chi-square and ANOVA test were used for statisticalanalyses.Results: Of the 200 patients, 98 were female and 102 were male. The mean age was 71.3±8.1 years. According to the NRS-2002, the prevalence ofmalnutrition risk was 34%; according to the MNA, the prevalence of malnutrition was 23.5%, and the prevalence of malnutrition risk was 27.5%.According to the NRS-2002, 38% of the patients at risk for malnutrition were female and 62% were male (p=0.029). The relationship between handgrip test and Mini Nutritional Assesment (MNA) was statistically significant (p