ABSTRACT
Objective To survey the prevalence of undemutrition in elderly leprosy patients and explore the feasibility of nutritional assessment. Methods The nutrition status of 60 elderly patients with advanced leprosy was analyzed using Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and objective methods. Results Undemutrition was determined in 22 patients (36. 6% ), including 5 patients ( 8. 3% ) were at a status of severe undernutrition. Kap-pa value of SGA and the objective items were 0. 619, 0. 571, 0. 476, 0. 454, and 0. 419 for triceps skin-fold thickness (TSF), pre-albumin (PALB), mid arm muscle circumference (MAMC), hemoglobin (Hb), and ser-um albumin, respectively. Gender, admission duration, type of leprosy, or disability grade was not correlated to all nutritional parameters except body height and cholesteroL Age and extent of ulceration were significantly correlated with some parameters such as BMI, TSF, lib, ALB, and PALB ( P < O. 01 ). Sensitivity and specificity of SGA on objective parameters screened were different. TSF and ulcer had the hrgest impacts on SGA. Conclusions The prevalence of undernutrition is not high in elderly leprosy patients. Any single objective parameter is not feasible for the assessment of nutrition status in these patients. A comprehensive method using SGA is preferred.