Use of the Mini Nutritional Assessment in institutionalized elderly <b>[Abstract in English]</b>

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the nutritional state of aged institutionalized in an elderly nursing home of Rio Grande, a port city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the Southern Region of Brazil. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with elderly 60 years or more, resident in a philanthropic and private institution. For assessing the nutritional status of the elderly we used the Mini Nutritional Assessment. For analysis we used descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and percentage) and Student t test to compare data between the sexes. We considered the value of p less than 0.05 as statistically significant. Results: Twenty eight elderly people were evaluated, from whom 57.1% were women. The average age was 78.5±9.3 years for women and was 77±8.5 years for men (no significant difference). The mean weight and body mass index did not differ between the sexes. The highest average height (1.62±0.07 m) was found in the male group (p less than 0.05). Malnutrition was identified in 10.7% of the elderly, 25% had malnutrition risk, and 64.3% were eutrophic, without significant difference between the sexes. Of the women studied, 7.14% had normal weight by the Mini Nutritional Assessment, but were underweight by the body mass index. Conclusions: The study revealed that there was a low prevalence of undernourished elderly, as well as at risk of malnutrition, in the population studied. However, the Mini Nutritional Assessment do not allow to evaluate bedridden or mentally impaired elderly. Other methods of monitoring nutritional status must be used in elderly homes, with efficient and easy to perform tools, which assess not only the deficit but also the excess weight in this age group.