Prevalence of Geriatric Malnutrition and its Associated Factors at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Identified parameters associated with geriatric malnutrition add greatly to the knowledge of clinical nutrition and facilitate patient-centred nutritional care management. Methods: A six-month cross-sectional study with the aims of deterrninine the prevalence of malnutrition and its associated parameters was conducted among hospitalised geriatrics admitted to Hospital USM. A total of 130 (49 men, 81 women) eligible participants with a mean age of 69.7 (6.99) were recruited for this study. Anthropometric tests, biochemical tests, and subjective global assessments (SGA) were applied in this study to assess the nutritional status of the participants. Meanwhile, socio-demographics, nutritional risk factors, and clinical elements were examined to identify the associated factors of malnutrition. Results: The findings of this study revealed that 35.4% of the participants were malnourished based on SGA ratings of B (26.2%) and C (9.2%), with women having a significantly higher proportion (43.5%) compared to men (22 4%) with p<0.05. Multivariate analysis revealed that loss of appetite (p<0.001), low body mass index (EMI) (p<0.001), albumin (p<0.05), and surgical procedures (p<0.05) were significantly associated with malnutrition. Conclusion: The associated parameters were found to be practicable in facilitating the identification process of malnutrition, and thus enable earlier nutritional intervention to improve the overall disease progress.