Assessment tools for nutritional status in the elderly.
Nutritional assessment in the elderly consists of many different tests--clinical, biochemical and anthropometric. However, objective markers of nutritional assessment often do not reflect physiologic, physical, cognitive and emotional function. Moreover, nutritional assessment using objective markers is more complicated in the older subject because metabolic changes, among others, affect some of the routine biochemical test results, and the reference values of the anthropometric measures are not always age-adjusted. In addition, it is possible that functional impairment may occur at a subclinical level and precede a measurable alteration in body composition, i.e., there may be clearly defined alterations in muscle function at a time when significant changes in body composition could not be detected. Malnutrition or nutritional deficiency is a continuum that starts with an individual's inadequate intake (that, in fact, does not meet his or her needs) and progresses through a series of functional changes that precede any changes in body composition. At present there is no gold standard for evaluating nutritional status. The relationship between nutritional status and functional capacities apparently is the simplest, but also the most reliable index of malnutrition. The extent of dependency and disability has a considerable impact on nutritional status and vice versa.
Berner
Yitshal N
YN
Department of Geriatrics, Meir Hospital, Sapir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel.
D000368:Aged; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results