Undernutrition in older adults
| Malnutrition | |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Geriatrics |
| Symptoms | low weight, muscle wasting, weakness |
| Complications | physical debility, cognitive impairment, reduced quality of life, worse outcomes for chronic diseases |
| Usual onset | Old age |
| Causes | Reduced senses of taste and smell in aging, age-related anorexia |
| Risk factors | poverty, loneliness, depression, grief, new environment or moving into a nursing home, alcohol dependence, dysphagia (swallowing difficulties), polypharmacy |
| Differential diagnosis | Frailty, sarcopenia, cachexia |
| Treatment | Oral nutritional supplements, nutrition counseling, tube feeding |
| Frequency | 3-50% |
Undernutrition in older adults (a type of malnutrition) is a syndrome that results in lower energy availability than that is required to meet the body's metabolic demands. Broadly, it can be categorized as inadequate caloric or protein intake, inadequate utilization of nutrients (due to malabsorption in the gut), or nutrient intake that cannot meet the body's increased metabolic demands (such as in cases of acute illness). Undernutrition is common in older adults due to a variety of etiologies, including body changes associated with aging.
Malnutrition is common in older adults. Using the Mini-Nutritional Assessment as a screening tool (which is widely utilized), the prevalence of malnutrition is 3% in community dwelling older adults, 22% in hospitalized older adults, and 30% for those in nursing homes or long-term care facilities. Using the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) diagnostic criteria, 7-13% of older adults in community settings, and 50% who are hospitalized, have heart failure, cancer or are in nursing homes have malnutrition.