Assessment of Malnutrition in Community-dwelling Elderly People: Cooperation among General Practitioners and Public Health
| Title: | Assessment of Malnutrition in Community-dwelling Elderly People: Cooperation among General Practitioners and Public Health |
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| Authors: | Maura FERRARI BRAVO, Fabrizio GALLO, Concetta MARCHELLO, Roberta BOICELLI, Silvia LUPI, Massimiliano ATZEI, Francesco BRUNETTI, Romina CASARETTO, Federico DAPELO, Daniela GEREVINI, Eliana LEONARDELLI, Anna MANNO, Elisabetta PERI, Paola SOAVE, Angelo TRAVERSARO, Antonio ZAMPOGNA, Roberto ZUNINO, Armando STEFANATI, Giovanni GABUTTI |
| Source: | Iranian Journal of Public Health, Vol 47, Iss 5 (2018) |
| Publisher Information: | Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 2018. |
| Publication Year: | 2018 |
| Collection: | LCC:Public aspects of medicine |
| Subject Terms: | Malnutrition, Free-living elderly people, MNA, Dietetic counseling, Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270 |
| More Details: | Background: Malnutrition, a very common condition in the elderly, is known to increase their vulnerability to adverse health events. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of malnutrition in the over 75-yr-old community-dwelling population in the “Chiavarese” Local Health Unit district (North West Italy). Methods: The short version of the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA-SF) was used by General Practitioners (GP) as a screening tool to investigate the nutritional status of elderly people (1039 subjects). The study was conducted in 2012- 2013 in the Local Health Unit of Chiavari (Liguria Region), Italy. The malnutrition was subsequently confirmed by means of biochemical parameters. Subjects at risk of malnutrition or malnourished (n=22) received personalized dietary counseling by the GP. Results: The MNA-SF recognized 21% of the elderly people being at risk of malnutrition and biochemical tests confirmed a malnutrition prevalence of 3.5%. The dietary counseling improved the MNA-SF score and biochemical parameters, but the difference was statistically significant only for the MNA-SF score (P=0.00613). Conclusion: Malnutrition can be evaluated with a simple tool such as the MNA-SF, recognized at the earliest stage and successfully treated by the GP. |
| Document Type: | article |
| File Description: | electronic resource |
| Language: | English |
| ISSN: | 2251-6085 2251-6093 |
| Relation: | https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/13340; https://doaj.org/toc/2251-6085; https://doaj.org/toc/2251-6093 |
| Access URL: | https://doaj.org/article/0fa797d27d6f45bf96d2dc51552e8066 |
| Accession Number: | edsdoj.0fa797d27d6f45bf96d2dc51552e8066 |
| Database: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
| ISSN: | 22516085 22516093 |
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| Published in: | Iranian Journal of Public Health |
| Language: | English |