[Malnutrition prevalence in institutionalized elderly people in Valencia Community, Spain]

The goal of this study was to know the prevalence of malnutrition in an institutionalized elderly population according to age and sex.

We studied 615 institutionalized patients, with a mean age (SD) of 79.33 (9.07) years. Anthropometric parameters included weight, height, knee-heel length, tricipital and subescapular skin folds, arm perimeter and fat mass. Biochemical parameters included: total cholesterol, triglycerides, albumin, prealbumin, transferrin,retinol-binding protein, C3 and lymphocyte count. Malnutrition prevalence was 26.87% (CI 95%, 23.15-30.86), 29.08% (CI 95%, 22.82-35.97) in men and 25.59% (CI 95%, 25.01-30.61) in women. Anthropometric parameters were found to be decreased in all malnourished patients. Significant decreases in albumin and retinol-binding protein concentrations were observed in some age groups of malnourished patients. We also found a decrease in the total cholesterol level in parallel to an age increase in both sexes, regardless of the nutritional status. Triglyceride levels were significantly decreased in both males and females with malnutrition.

We detected a high prevalence of malnutrition, yet lower than reported in other studies with similar age groups.