Validation of the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form in a Population of Frail Elders without Disability. Analysis of the Toulouse Frailty Platform Population in 2013.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the validity of the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF) in elderly patients from the Toulouse Frailty Platform.


METHODS
Overall, 267 patients aged 65 and over, without severe cognitive impairment (i.e. Mini Mental Status Examination > 20 and CDR<1), no physical disability (i.e. Activities of Daily Living ≥ 5) and no active cancer history (over the past 12 months) were included in 2013.


METHODS
Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to assess the predictive validity of the French version of the MNA-SF for good nutritional status (defined as a full MNA score≥24/30). Analyses were conducted in the overall sample and then in subgroups of frail and pre-frail subjects according to the frailty phenotype. Optimal cut-off points were determined to obtain the best sensitivity/specificity ratio and the highest number of correctly classified subjects.


RESULTS
Among 267 patients, mean age=81.5±5.8; women=67.0%; 138 (51.7%) were frail, 98 (36.7%) were pre-frail and 31 (11.6%) were robust. Given their MNA-SF scores, 201 (75.3%) had a good nutritional status, 61 (22.8%) were at risk of malnutrition and 5 (1.9%) were malnourished. In the overall sample, but also in subgroups of pre-frail or frail elders, the areas under ROC curves were 0.954, 0.948 and 0.958 respectively. The 11 points cut-off provided the best correct classification ratio (91.4%); sensitivity=94.0%, specificity=83.3%.


CONCLUSIONS
The MNA-SF appeared to be a validated and effective tool for malnutrition screening in frail elders. Implementing this tool in clinical routine should contribute to improving the screening of malnourished frail individuals.
Matthieu Lilamand, MD MSc. Institut du Vieillissement, 37 Allées Jules Guesde. 31000 Toulouse France. Phone: +33 (0)5 61145657. Fax: +33 (0)5 61145640 email: mlilamand@hotmail.fr.
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M
Lilamand
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Kelaiditi
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M
Cesari
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Raynaud-Simon
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Ghisolfi
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Guyonnet
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Vellas
G Abellan
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van Kan
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005602:France; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000175:diagnosis; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity