Malnutrition prevalence and nutrition issues in residential aged care facilities.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of malnutrition and investigate nutritional issues in a sample of older people living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs).


METHODS
This study forms the descriptive component of a pretest post-test designed study conducted in eight RACFs. The Subject Global Assessment tool was used to determine the prevalence of malnutrition in 350 residents.


RESULTS
Nearly 70% of residents were women and 79.4% of all residents were classified as high care. Half the residents were well nourished (50.5%) with 43.1% moderately malnourished and 6.4% severely malnourished. Prevalence of malnutrition was significantly higher for residents receiving higher level care (odds ratio (OR) = 2.9 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.7-5.2; P < 0.001)) and older than 90 years (OR = 3.0 (95% CI: 1.8-5.1; P < 0.001)). Of the residents considered to be malnourished, very few (17.8%) had been seen by a dietitian in the past 6 months or were receiving commercial supplements (29.2%).


CONCLUSIONS
There is a need for systematic, coordinated and multidisciplinary approaches to nutritional care for older people in residential care.
Gaskill
Deanne
D
Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. d.gaskill@qut.edu.au
Black
Lucinda J
LJ
Isenring
Elisabeth A
EA
Hassall
Stacey
S
Sanders
Fran
F
Bauer
Judith D
JD
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000451:nursing; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D015995:Prevalence; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*