Malnutrition and associated clinical outcomes in hospitalized patients aged 60 and older: an observational study in rural Wales

Abstract

This is a prospective observational study of malnutrition and six-week clinical outcomes on a previously unstudied population of older hospital inpatients in rural Wales. One hundred and twenty-six of 152 patients older than 60 years identified on the wards surveyed were included. Patients unable to give informed consent and those too ill to participate were excluded. The main findings were that 55 (44%) were malnourished at the first assessment, that nutrition risk predicted mortality (P = 0.019), length of hospital stay (P = 0.026), and discharge destination (P = 0.005), that only 17 patients had received nutritional support, and that many of those who received support nevertheless had lost weight at the 6-week follow-up. This confirms previous research which suggests that, while malnutrition is associated with poorer clinical outcomes, nutrition support for older patients in hospital nevertheless is often insufficient.