Estudio de la situación nutricional de pacientes mayores de 65 años incluidos en el programa de atención domiciliaria de una población urbana

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the nutritional status of patients older than 65 years included in the home care program (PAD). DESIGN: Croos-sectional study. EMPLACEMENT: 3 urban health centers. PARTICIPANTS: 218 patients in the PAD. METHOD: Mini Nutritional Assessment questionnaire (MNA) was applied. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, dependency, emotional and cognitive status and analytical parameters: 57 variables were collected. Possible associations were analysed by applying the chi square and variance analysis. The level of significance was considered to be P < .05 was considered. RESULTS: The mean age was 83.9 years (SD = 7.4); 34.9% were institutionalized and 80.7% were women; 21.2% of patients were malnourished and 40.1% were at risk of it. A significant association was established between poorer nutritional status and older age, lower BMI, greater dependence on basic and instrumental activities of daily living and greater cognitive impairment. The lowest mean hemoglobin, albumin, and iron levels were also associated with malnutrition and risk of malnutrition. CONCLUSIONS: More than half of PAD patients are malnourished or at risk for it, and a high proportion of them some laboratory abnormality susceptible to be corrected. Most cognitive impairment and functional dependence are closely related to malnutrition; so patients with these characteristics should receive more attention from the nutritional point of view.