Risk of malnutrition in elderly patients in acute hospitals-implications for nursing practice

Abstract

Background: The risk of malnutrition is increased in advanced age and acute illness, and its assessment and needs-based support are part of the responsibility of nursing. Research question / objective: The following research question aims to analyse the nutritional status and possible correlations with nursing diagnoses and other patient characteristics from persons who are 80 years old and older: Which patterns in the sense of clusters can be identified concerning calorie and protein requirements and other patient characteristics? Methods: Explorative cross-sectional study with cluster analysis based on food intake protocols and nursing documentation. Patients from surgery, internal medicine and university acute geriatric care wards were included in this non-probability sample. Results: Four groups were formed out of the data from 135 patients (protein requirement coverage): Well-nourished (116 %), sufficiently-nourished (77 %), insufficiently-nourished (59 %) and poorly-nourished (40 %). A significant correlation between calorie and protein requirement coverage and treatment area has been shown. Conclusions: The degree of coverage of protein-and energy requirement is related to the treatment area and consequently to its team culture and treatment concept. Based on the characteristics of the well-nourished, a positive effect of interprofessional cooperation and systematic recording of the risk of malnutrition, as implemented in the treatment area of acute geriatric care, might be concluded.