P080 - DO ELDERLY PEOPLE WHO ARE MALNOURISHED OR HAVE LOW MUSCLE MASS REMAIN HOSPITALIZED FOR LONGER THAN WELL-NOURISHED PATIENTS?

P080

DO ELDERLY PEOPLE WHO ARE MALNOURISHED OR HAVE LOW MUSCLE MASS REMAIN HOSPITALIZED FOR LONGER THAN WELL-NOURISHED PATIENTS?

M. F. J. Kok^1,*, M. C. Bailer¹, A. R. dos Santos¹, F. T. Martins¹, N. A. C. Calisto¹

¹NUTRIÇÃO, HOSPITAL SAMARITANO HIGIENÓPOLIS, SÃO PAULO, Brazil

Rationale: To compare the length of hospital stay and the results of nutritional screening among elderly patients considering their muscular status measured upon admission.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using electronic medical record data from 188 elderly individuals admitted to a private hospital in São Paulo and included in the institutional protocol called “Frail Elderly”. Screening was performed using the Mini Nutrition Assessment (Mini Nutrition Assessment, short version). The criterion for classifying low muscle mass (LMB) was the measurement of calf circumference (CC). Patients with LMB were grouped as G1 and those with adequate muscle mass as G2.

Results: The prevalence of BMM was 74%. The association between BMM and nutritional status of eutrophy or overweight prevailed in 54%. The average length of hospital stay was 19 days in G1 and 20 days in G2. Regarding nutritional status in G1 and G2, respectively 46% and 8% were underweight; 40% and 37% were eutrophic; 14% and 55% were overweight. There was nutritional worsening according to CP in 8% of G2. Regarding screening by MAN: malnourished G1 49% and 22% in G2; at nutritional risk 43% in G1 and 51% in G2; without risk 8% in G1 and 27% in G2. Regarding the reasons for scoring malnutrition or nutritional risk, there was a change in food intake in 55% G1 and 37% G2; weight loss in 39% G1 and 37% G2; mobility restriction 77% G1 and 67% G2; acute illness 75% G1 and 63% G2; dementia 50% G1 and 31% G2.

Conclusion: Patients with adequate muscle mass at admission according to the CP remained in the hospital for 1 day longer than patients with low muscle mass, however, most of these patients presented malnutrition or nutritional risk according to the screening. Adequate nutritional status was not proportional to adequate muscle mass, reinforcing the importance of associating methods to define nutritional status. 

Disclosure of Interest: None declared