title: Developing and testing the Nutritional Form For the Elderly.
abstract: Undernutrition among elderly patients is a significant problem in nursing care. The aims of this study were to develop and test an instrument for identifying actual and potential undernutrition among elderly patients in clinical nursing care. A Likert-type scale consisting of 15 items was constructed. A consecutive sample of 56 elderly patients (>65 years) in a geriatric rehabilitation ward in western Sweden were interviewed with the instrument. The data were mainly analysed with non-parametric statistical methods. The results showed that the instrument was a fairly reliable scale with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.72. Evidence of validity concerning face validity, criterion-related validity-including concurrent and predictive validity-and construct validity was shown in the study group. Further testing is required if the instrument is to be used in clinical nursing care and research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics and Rehabilitation, Norra Alvsborgs Länssjukhus, Trollhättan, Sweden.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Söderhamn
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Söderhamn
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D006801:Humans; D009732:Nursing Care; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden