Six simple questions to detect malnutrition or malnutrition risk in elderly women.
Of the numerous instruments available to detect nutritional risk, the most widely used is the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), but it takes 15-20 min to complete and its systematic administration in primary care units is not feasible in practice. We developed a tool to evaluate malnutrition risk that can be completed more rapidly using just clinical variables. Between 2008 and 2013, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 418 women aged ≥60 years from Mexico. Our outcome was positive MNA and our secondary variables included were: physical activity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, educational level, dentition, psychological problems, living arrangements, history of falls, age and the number of tablets taken daily. The sample was divided randomly into two groups: construction and validation. Construction: a risk table was constructed to estimate the likelihood of the outcome, and risk groups were formed.


RESULTS
the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated and we compared the expected and the observed outcomes. The following risk factors were identified: physical activity, hypertension, diabetes, dentition, psychological problems and living with the family. The AUC was 0.77 (95% CI [0.68-0.86], p < 0.001). No differences were found between the expected and the observed outcomes (p = 0.902). This study presents a new malnutrition screening test for use in elderly women. The test is based on six very simple, quick and easy-to-evaluate questions, enabling the MNA to be reserved for confirmation. However, it should be used with caution until validation studies have been performed in other geographical areas.
Tampico School of Nursing, Autonomous University of Tamaulipas , Tampico, TAMPS , Mexico.
Tranquilina
T
Gutiérrez-Gómez
Department of Pharmacology, Pediatrics and Organic Chemistry, Miguel Hernández University , San Juan de Alicante, Alicante , Spain.
Ernesto
E
Cortés
Department of Clinical Medicine, Miguel Hernández University , San Juan de Alicante, Alicante , Spain ; Research Unit, Elda Hospital , Elda, Alicante , Spain.
Antonio
A
Palazón-Bru
Tampico School of Nursing, Autonomous University of Tamaulipas , Tampico, TAMPS , Mexico.
Isabel
I
Peñarrieta-de Córdova
Department of Clinical Medicine, Miguel Hernández University , San Juan de Alicante, Alicante , Spain ; Research Unit, Elda Hospital , Elda, Alicante , Spain.
Vicente Francisco
VF
Gil-Guillén
Department of Nursing, University of Alicante , San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante , Spain.
Rosa María
RM
Ferrer-Diego
Elderly; Malnutrition; Primary health care; Statistical models