title: Different components of nutritional status in older inpatients with cognitive impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate different components of nutritional status in older patients with cognitive deficit, particularly in those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  560 elderly subjects aged ≥ 65 years consecutively admitted to an acute Geriatric Unit of Apulia region of southern Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A standardized comprehensive geriatric assessment was used to evaluate medical, cognitive, affective and social aspects. Nutritional status was assessed using the mini nutritional assessment (MNA). The cognitive function was categorized into three levels - MCI, dementia or normal cognition (NoCI) - according to the neuropsychological test score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects with cognitive decline had significantly lower frequency of well-nourished (MCI=10%, dementia=8%, NoCI=22%, p<0.05) and higher frequency of malnourished (MCI=47%, dementia=62%, NoCI=19%, p<0.001) than patients with normal cognition. Similarly, MNA total score, MNA-3 and MNA-4 subscores were significantly lower in patients with MCI and dementia than patients with normal cognition (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that cognitive decline may be associated with malnutrition in this sample of hospitalized older patients. Dietary habits (MNA-3) and subjective assessment of self-perceived quality of health and nutrition (MNA-4) are particularly poor also in patients with MCI and could be very important variables to be considered in the multidimensional evaluation of subjects with cognitive impairment.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Unit, Paradiso Hospital, Gioia del Colle (Ba), Azienda sanitaria Locale Bari, Italy. giuseppeorsitto@katamail.com
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Orsitto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000150:complications*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications*; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010465:Perception; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values