Systematic review of nutritional screening methods for elderly brazilians living at home

Abstract

The scope of this article is to identify a specific method of nutritional screening for use on elderly Brazilians living at home. It is a systematic review article using the PubMed, LILACS and Web of Science databases. The eligibility criterion was articles about nutritional screening methods for the elderly. The articles were read by evaluators who selected the methods and classified them according to evidence of validity, reproducibility and acceptability. EndNote software was used for scrutiny of the articles. Twelve methods of nutritional screening were identified, 3 being developed for use in the US population (n = 4), though none for the Brazilian population. In seven methods, the forms were filled out by the elderly themselves, and 4 of these presented anthropometric measures. Only one method produced information on acceptability. Reproducibility and validity was identified in 1 and 8, respectively, however only the Determine Your Nutritional Health- DNH method presented acceptability data, which is a fundamental aspect in the choice for adaptation and use of the method in another country. Among the methods studied, the DNH was the most appropriate for cross-cultural adaptation and use on elderly Brazilians living at home.